The Supreme Court Zambia is the highest legal authority across the nation and as such, the decision coming out from this court are binding. Any case which comes to this court must be of grave significance. Similarly, cases that remain unresolved at the district and higher-level courts and are eligible eventually are accepted by the Supreme Court of Zambia. However, the recent appeal made by the Ventriglias on the Portland Cement case was completely out-of-place and out-of-context. This appeal was related to a previous decision by the higher Court of Appeal on the Portland Cement Zambia case. On 31st January 2019, the higher Court of Appeal after none months of case proceedings effectively rejected the previous decision from the Lusaka High Court judge Nkonde on the Portland Cement Zambia case. It should be noted here that Justice Nkonde on behalf of the Lusaka High Court had previously announced Ventriglias that the only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia. This decision was considered as extremely misdirected and controversial considering the fact that Dr. Rajan Mahtani had all evidences to prove his legal ownership over the factory.
Nevertheless, after more than 20 months of the decision from the higher Court of Appeal, the Ventriglias once again tried their luck by approaching the Supreme Court Zambia. The Supreme Court established a bench of three judges and evaluated the appeal. After evaluation, the judges confirmed that Ventriglias were too late in registering this appeal which should be done within 14 days of the original decision of the Court. Second, the judges confirmed that they did not have any jurisdiction over the case and as such, it was rejected by the Supreme Court Zambia.
Comments