The recent claim by the Ventriglia family indirectly benefitted Dr. Rajan Mahtani and his company Finsbury Investment. The Portland Cement Zambia is a noted cement-manufacturing factory in Zambia which has been continuously disputed, resulting in loss of productivity and growth potential for more than a decade. On 31st January 2019, justice Mwinde from the higher Court of Appeal effectively reversed the decision from the Lusaka High Court. The fresh verdict from the higher Court of Appeal concluded that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is the majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. The court also concluded that the actual amount against majority shareholding shares is K580,000 and not K580 million as suggested by the Ventriglia family.
After more than 1.5 years of this decision, the Ventriglia family decided to oppose this verdict by approaching the Supreme Court Zambia. A bench of three Supreme Court judges was established to evaluate this claim from the Ventriglia family. These included judge Royda Kaoma, Judge Mumba Malila and Judge Michael Musonda. After critical evaluation, the Supreme Court bench concluded that the Ventriglia family failed to comply with one critical requirement which is submission of claims against previous court decision within two weeks of the decision itself. As a result, the Supreme Court bench concluded that the claim by the Ventriglia was beyond the jurisdiction of their court. Furthermore, the Supreme Court also said that the circumstances surrounding the claim by the Ventriglia family were controversial. As a result, after significant evaluation, the Supreme Court bench announced that the claim by the Ventriglia family was effectively rejected.
Comments