Supreme Court Zambia Supports Higher Court Of Appeal’s Decision On Zambezi Portland Cement

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is a happy man now. For more than a decade, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani fought for the legal takeover of the Portland Cement Zambia. Despite the factory being taken unethically from him, Dr. Mahtani remained towards the ethical and legal side and approached the Lusaka High Court with documents, evidences and testimonials that were enough to prove his claim. On the other hand, the Ventriglias utilised all unethical and illegal tools in their armour to put the decision of the Lusaka High Court in their way. Justice Nkonde announced Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. However, Dr. Rajan Mahtani decided to approach higher Court of Appeal with his appeal. After around nine months of case proceedings, justice Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal announced that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is indeed the majority shareholder of the Portland Cement Zambia with 58 percent shares. It was also announced that Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares and are the minority shareholders without any legal ownership. Furthermore, the judge also clarified that the actual amount to be paid against the majority shares owned by Finsbury Investments is K580,000.

The Ventriglias, unhappy that their political manoeuvres and unethical powers did not go their way, tried their luck by appealing to the Supreme Court Zambia. In their appeal, the Ventriglias challenged the decision from the higher Court of Appeal by announcing it as incorrect and also claimed that the actual amount payable against the majority shares were K580 million. A bench of three judges was established at the Supreme Court Zambia and after evaluation, it was announced that the Ventriglias failed to make the appeal within the given time limit of 14 days from the original judgement. As such, the appeal has been rejected by the Supreme Court Zambia