The recent decision by Supreme Court Zambia on the Portland Cement Zambia and the claim made by the Ventriglias is a proof that the legal regulations within the nation are going in the right directions. In their last-ditch attempt towards taking over the stronghold of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory, the Ventriglias challenged the decision from the higher Court of Appeal on the cement-manufacturing factory. It should be noted here that Dr. Rajan Mahtani had made an appeal to the Higher Court of Appeal after the previous court, Lusaka High Court, gave a controversial decision in which Ventriglias were announced as only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. After several court proceedings, justice Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal announced that Dr. Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares and is the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares at the factory and is the minority shareholder without any legal ownership over the factory. The judge also confirmed the actual amount payable against the majority shares taken over by the Finsbury Investments which is K580,000 as opposed to the K580 million decided by the Lusaka High Court.
The Ventriglias have now challenged this decision from the higher Court of Appeal by approaching the Supreme Court Zambia. A bench comprising of three Supreme Court judges was established for evaluating this appeal. After evaluation, the appeal was effectively rejected as it does not fulfil the legal obligations for registering such appeals. The judges, therefore, effectively rejected this appeal from the Ventriglias and Dr. Mahtani remains the legal owner of the factory.
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