Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani Is The Winner Of Portland Cement Zambia Case, Announces Court Of Appeal
On 31st January 2019, the final judgement on the Portland Cement Zambia case was announced. This judgement was given by the Court of Appeal, one of the highest civilian courts in Zambia. According to this judgement, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder of the factory. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares at the factory and are the minority shareholders without any legal ownership. This decision from the Court of Appeal aligns with the original shareholders agreement established in the year 2007 and confirms that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the actual owner of the factory. By giving this decision, the judge from the Court of Appeal effectively reversed the judgement from the Lusaka High Court which had announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement.
While giving this decision, justice Mwinde from the Court of Appeal also made some announcement. In terms of the forgery allegations, all such allegations were discarded. According to Justice Mwinde, the process of mechanically placing signatures for business transactions was a common practice in Zambia and critical member of the Ventriglias family, Claudio Ventriglia, engaged in similar practice. As such, all forgery related allegations were discarded. Furthermore, the judge also gave a timeline of three months from the date of the judgement during which all share sales and regulations related activities must be completed.
Justice Mwinde also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement as this decision was misdirected and wrong.
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