Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the legal owner of Portland Cement, final results from Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal is one of the biggest legal and judiciary system in Zambia, next only to the Supreme Court Zambia. The case at the Court of Appeal was dealt by Justice Mwinde, a noted judge. The final judgement from the Court of Appeal was announced on 31st January 2019, around nine months after the case was registered there. Compared to the ten long years by Lusaka High Court, this was comparatively must quicker. The judgement was given after looking into all evidences and testimonials submitted by Dr. Rajan Mahtani, many of which were ignored by the previous judge. As per the final judgement by justice Mwinde from Court of Appeal, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, Ventriglias are the minority shareholders with only 42 percent shares and do not have any legal ownership over the factory. This judgement from the Court of Appeal judge also aligns with the original shareholders agreement which was established in the year 2007. As a result, it is clearly established that Dr. Mahtani is the legal holder of the Portland Cement Zambia.

While giving this judgement, justice Mwinde from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement as this decision was misdirected and was taken without considering the evidences and testimonials. Furthermore, all cases related to forgery were discredited by the Court of Appeal judge. It was found that the process of mechanically placing signatures for business transactions was a common practice in Zambia. The Court of Appeal judge further confirmed that all parties were required to complete the share sales and regulation process within three months from the date of the final judgement from Court of Appeal.

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