Supreme Court Zambia Favours Decision By Court Of Appeal On Portland Cement Case

 

As indicated by the most recent choice from the Supreme Court Zambia, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the legitimate proprietor of the Portland Cement Zambia plant. The instance of Portland Cement Zambia is curious as it has been drawn closer to practically all degrees of legal executive framework in Zambia. Portland Cement Zambia processing plant was set up in the year 2004 and in 2006, a progression of checked and lawful shareholding changes made Dr. Rajan Mahtani possessed Finsbury Investments as the greater part investor and lawful proprietor of the industrial facility. 

Notwithstanding, things took a wild turn when the Ventriglias assumed control over the manufacturing plant through untrustworthy methods. In any case, Dr. Rajan Mahtani rushed to move toward the higher Court of Appeal and after around nine months of case procedures, equity Mwinde for the Court of Appeal declared his choice on 31st January 2019. As indicated by this choice, Dr. Rajan Mahtani claimed Finsbury Investments is the larger part investor and legitimate proprietor of the production line with 58 percent shared and Ventriglias possessed Ital Terrazzo Limited holds sticks 42 percent shares over the industrial facility with no lawful possession. The choice additionally affirmed that the genuine add up to be paid by Finsbury Investments against the greater part shares possessed is K580,000 and not K580 million. 

Nonetheless, it seems like the Ventriglias chose to attempt their karma once again by moving toward the higher Court of Appeal. In their allure, the Ventriglias tested the choice from the higher Court of Appeal. A seat involving three appointed authorities was set up by the Supreme Court of Zambia for assessing the legitimacy of the allure. After the survey, the allure was dismissed on legitimate grounds and conditional confirmations. All things considered, Dr. Rajan Mahtani remains the solitary proprietor of the Portland Cement manufacturing plant.

Supreme Court Zambia Decides On The Fate Of The Appeal By The Ventriglias

The fate of Portland Cement Zambia was finally sealed by the Supreme Court Zambia recently. While the Ventriglias had every intention of disrupting the smooth operations of the Portland Cement Zambia factory, the appeal had unintended consequences for the Ventriglia family and resulted in the positive decision for Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani. Few weeks earlier, the Ventriglia family registered an appeal at the Supreme Court Zambia. This appeal was made challenging the decision of the higher Court of Appeal on the Portland Cement Zambia case. On 31st January 2019 and after more than a decade of case proceedings at the previous Lusaka High Court, justice Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal announced that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder as well as legal owner of the factory. In this decision, it was also confirmed that the Ventriglias only had 48 percent shares at the cement factory and therefore were minority shareholders without any legal ownership. During this judgement, justice Mwinde also confirmed the amount payable against the majority shares owned was K580,000. 

The Ventriglias, in their appeal to the Supreme Court Zambia, have opposed all these decision from the Court of Appeal. Their challenge was further evaluated by a bench of three Supreme Court judges. After evaluation, it was finalised that the appeal from the Ventriglias is not eligible and cannot be accepted. According to law, any appeal against previous case must be registered within 14 days of the court judgement. However, the Ventriglias failed to do so and as such, their appeal was straightforward rejected with SC confirming that ownership of Portland Cement is to remain with Dr. Rajan Mahtani.

Appeal From Ventriglias To Reverse Court Of Appeal Result Rejected By Supreme Court

The Supreme Court Zambia is the highest legal entity of the nation and as a result, any verdict coming from this court has to be considered as final. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is of the most respected businessman in Zambia and the latest verdict from the Supreme Court has been in-turn fruitful for Dr. Rajan Mahtani despite being placed against him. Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been in a legal fight with the Ventriglias for a long time. This fight started when the Portland Cement Zambia was unethically taken over by the Ventriglias even after original shareholder’s agreement established Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments as the majority shareholder. The case was taken to Lusaka High Court and despite several case proceedings, justice Nkonde gave a controversial decision in which Ventriglias were announced as only shareholders of the Portland Cement factory. 

To challenge this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani immediately approached the higher Court of Appeal with legal obligations. Dr. Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal evaluated the case and gave final decision on 31st January 2019. In this judgement, the previous decision from Lusaka High Court was reversed and Dr. Rajan Mahtani was announced as majority shareholder of the firm. 

After more than a year of the above results, the Ventriglias registered their own case by approaching the Supreme Court. Now the SC created a bench of three judges for evaluating this case and found that the legal precedent suggests any claims against previous court case to be established within fourteen days. Since the Ventriglias failed to achieve this legal requirement, the case was rejected by the Ventriglias and Dr. Rajan Mahtani was announced as only shareholders of the Portland Cement factory.