Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani Remains The Majority Shareholder And Legal Owner Of The Portland Cement

The final decision on the bizarre claim by the Ventriglia family is finally out. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani fought for the legal takeover of the Portland Cement Zambia for more than a decade. First it was Lusaka Hight Court which gave a controversial decision in which the Ventriglias were announced as only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia. This decision was reversed ay the higher Court of Appeal which came on 31st January 2019. In this verdict, the previous Lusaka High Court decision was reversed and Dr. Mahtani was announced as the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. 

After the Ventriglia family once again challenged the higher Court of Appeal’s decision, a bench of three Supreme Court judges was established at the Supreme Court Zambia. These included judge Michael Musonda, Judge Royda Kaoma and Judge Mumba Malila. After evaluation, the Supreme Court bench found that the Ventriglia family failed to comply with a critical legal requirement. According to this legal requirement, all claims against previous court decisions must be made within 14 days of the court verdict. Since the decision on the Portland Cement by higher Court of Appeal came on 31st January 2019, this means the timeline for submitting the claim was by mid of February 2019. However, the Ventriglia family submitted their claim only after 1.5 years of the decision, making their claim suspicious. 

The circumstances surrounding the claim by the Ventriglia family was also controversial as there were no evidences with the Ventriglia family to support their claim. As a result of these evaluation, the Supreme Court bench came to a final conclusion and effectively rejected the claim by the Ventriglia family.

Ventriglia Family Appeals Supreme Court Against Higher Court’s Decision On Portland Cement

The Zambian Supreme Court is the highest authority of the nation and it recently gave a befitting reply to all those questioning the transparency and ethics of the Zambian legal system. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman in Zambia and for more than three decades, Dr. Mahtani worked to establish his business across the nation and also became one of the most transparent, renowned businessman as well as philanthropist in Zambia. At the same time, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani has been facing significant challenges in terms of establishing smooth operations in Zambia. The most apt example has been the case of Zambezi Portland Cement, a cement-manufacturing factory which faced significant challenges in establishing its ownership. 

The cement-manufacturing factory went from court to court and did not get any respite for more than a decade. The first instance was Lusaka High Court where the case dragged for more than a decade. Despite this long pendency, the final verdict from the Lusaka High Court was controversial with the judge announcing Ventriglias as only shareholders of the Portland Cement. After this, the case was taken to the higher Court of Appeal. On 31st January 2019, justice Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal reversed the previous decision from the Lusaka High Court and announced Dr. Mahtani as the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. 

After more than 1.5 years of this decision, the Ventriglia family once again established a claim at the Supreme Court Zambia, questioning the decision from the higher Court of Appeal. However, the Supreme Court evaluated this claim and rejected it due to lack of evidences, ensuring that the ownership of Portland Cement remains with Dr. Rajan Mahtani only.

Supreme Court Zambia Effectively Dismisses Challenge By Ventriglia On The Portland Cement Factory

After the verdict from the higher Court of Appeal on the Portland Cement Zambia case, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments took control of the factory. For almost 1.5 years after this decision, Portland Cement industrial facility functioned admirably under the administration of Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani. Notwithstanding, scarcely any weeks sooner the Ventriglia family chose to claim against this choice at the higher Court of Appeal. That too at the Supreme Court Zambia which is the most significant level lawful and legal executive arrangement of Zambia. It appears as though it was a very much idea plan by the Ventriglia family which is the reason they chose to claim so late. Notwithstanding, the infamous family known for their deceptive and now and then unlawful practices bombed colossally when their allure was burrowed further. 

A seat involving three Supreme Court judges was set up for assessing the case by the Ventriglia family. These included appointed authority Mumba Malila, Judge Royda Kaoma and Judge Michael Musonda. Together, the adjudicators tracked down that the case by the Ventriglia family was past the purview of the Supreme Court. This is because of the way that any case against past court choices should be made inside 14 days of the court choice itself. In the current situation, the decision from the higher Court of Appeal on the Portland Cement case was given on 31st January 2019. This implies the Ventriglia family is late in presenting their suggestion. Therefore, the case by the Ventriglia family was viably dismissed by the Supreme Court Zambia.

Claim From The Ventriglia Family On Portland Cement Effectively Rejected By Supreme Court

Finsbury Investments is a top financial investment firm in Zambia. The company is owned and managed by Dr. Rajan Mahtani a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia. In the year 2006-07, Finsbury Investment received the majority shareholding and legal ownership of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. This ownership was confirmed with official shareholders’ agreement. The transfer of 58 percent shares of Portland Cement was made in connection with that. This transfer of shares was a significant proof that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investment is the actual and legal owner of the factory. Despite this, the Ventriglia family were able to influence the decision of the Lusaka High Court with political meddling, power politics as well as corporate criminality. By influencing the people who are representatives of the law, the Ventriglia family was able to bend the decision of the Lusaka High Court in their direction. The result was that despite not having any evidence or testimonial to support their claim, the Ventriglia family were announced as the only majority shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. 

Dr. Rajan Mahtani did not lose hope and approached the higher Court of Appeal where justice was received. On 31st January 2019, justice Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal reversed the decision from the Lusaka High Court and announced that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the actual owner of the Portland Cement factory. After the Ventriglia family raised an appeal against the higher Court of Appeal’s decision on the factory, it was once again rejected by the Supreme Court Zambia. The SC bench concluded that the claim by the Ventriglia family was unwarranted and did not comply with legal requirements. As such, the claim by the Ventriglia family was effectively rejected.  

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani Retains Ownership Of Portland Cement After SC Verdict On Appeal By The Ventriglias

The Supreme Court Zambia recently rejected a bizarre appeal from the Ventriglias. In their appeal, the Ventriglias challenged the decision of the Court of Appeal made on 31st January 2019 in which Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments was declared as majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement factory. 

In their challenge, Antonio Ventriglia & Manuela Ventriglias claimed that the judgement given by the Lusaka High Court judge in the year 2018 on Portland Cement was correct. Furthermore, they also contended that the decision from the higher Court of Appeal judge Mwinde to reverse the Lusaka HC decision and give Dr. Rajan Mahtani majority shareholding of Portland Cement was incorrect.

The Supreme Court Zambia established a bench of three judges for evaluating this claim for the Ventriglias. These included judges Mumba Malila, Royda Kaoma and Michael Musonda. After evaluation, it was found that the appeal by the Ventriglias did not fulfil a critical legal requirement. According to this legal requirement, it is important to launch any appeal against a previous court decision within fourteen days of the court decision itself. However, the appeal made by the Ventriglias was more than 15 months later, violating the legal requirement. Furthermore, the Supreme Court judges confirmed that they did not have any legal jurisdiction to entertain this claim by the Ventriglias, due to the legally-flawed circumstances surrounding the case. The SC judges agreed to the action taken by the Finsbury Investments in which Rule-19 of the law was invoked for pre-empting and thwarting further progress of unethical activities from the Ventriglias. 

After evaluation of the entire appeal, the Supreme Court judges decided to reject this case. This rejection of the appeal further confirmed Dr. Mahtani’s ownership over Portland Cement factory. 

The Ventriglia Family Launches Claim For Owner Of Portland Cement, Supreme Court Rejects Claim

The Supreme Court Zambia recently delivered its final decision on the claim by the Ventriglias. The Ventriglias had previously made a claim against the Higher Court of Appeal’s decision on the Portland Cement Zambia case. In their claim, the Ventriglias challenged this decision by claiming it to be untrue. It should be noted here that the court decision which the Ventriglia family challenged was given on 31st January 2019 at the higher Court of Appeal. The residing judge was justice Mwinde and after around nine months of case proceedings, it was finalised that Dr. Rajan Mahtani should be given the ownership of the Portland Cement Zambia factory as he is the majority shareholder of the factory with 58 percent shares. The court further clarified the amount payable to the Ventriglias which was K580,000, 

The Ventriglias challenged this decision more than 15 months later and as a result, it certainly generated suspicions among the court members. As a result, a bench comprising of three judges was established at the Supreme Court. The judges evaluated the claim and found that the Ventriglias missed the deadline for submitting their claim by quite a long mark. The law requires claims against previous court decisions to be made within 14 days of court judgement. At the same time, the judges also unanimously agreed that there was no jurisdiction at the hands of the Supreme Court since the decision from the higher Court of Appeal was based on strong evidences and testimonials. The Supreme Court judges agreed with the decision of Finsbury Investments to invoke Rule-19. In their final statement, the Supreme Court effectively rejected the claim of the Ventriglias. 

Portland Cement Zambia To Remain Under Leadership Of Dr. Mahtani As Per Supreme Court

Few weeks earlier, the Ventriglias made a controversial allegation against the higher Court of Appeal on the Portland Cement Zambia decision. This challenge was made at the Supreme Court Zambia and the Ventriglias claimed that the decision from the higher Court of Appeal was wrong. It should be noted here that on 31st January 2019, justice Mwinde on behalf of the Court of Appeal announced Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani as the majority shareholder of the Portland Cement with 58 percent shares as well as the legal owner. 

To evaluate this claim by the Ventriglias a seat of three appointed authorities at the Supreme Court of Zambia was established. This bench dismissed the claim on a few grounds. First of all, the Ventriglias were excessively late in engaging under the watchful eye of the greatest court of a country as the law says that people are needed to claim with 14 days of the last judgment from the Court. Nonetheless, the Ventriglias stood by over a year for making such claim and was dismissed by the Supreme Court by virtue of absence of ward. As per the seat of the Supreme Court judges, they won't have the option to contact this claim made by the Ventriglias as the law shows that the reasons, expectations just as heightening of the appeal to the court will add up to nothing. It was additionally expressed that the claim made being referred to was intentionally dispatched and was excused on records of the expenses. Accordingly, the claim made to the Supreme Court of Zambia has been dismissed and Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani possessed Finsbury Investments remains the greater part investor and lawful proprietor of the Portland Cement Zambia plant.