Tag Archives: Zambia Portland Cement

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani Remains The Legal Proprietor Of Portland Cement After SC Confirmation

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According to the latest reports, the Supreme Court Zambia has effectively rejected the appeal from the Ventriglias. Few weeks earlier, the Ventriglias had challenged the decision of the higher Court of Appeal to establish Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments as the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. This decision was given by justice Mwinde on 31st January 2019. By giving this decision, justice Mwinde reversed the decision from the earlier court regarding this case, Lusaka High Court. It should be noted here that the judgement from the Lusaka High Court in the Portland Cement Zambia case came more than a decade later and was extremely controversial as decision was given in favour of the Ventriglias despite evidences stating otherwise.

After more than 16 months of the judgement by higher Court of Appeal, the Ventriglias again tried to throttle the legal decision by challenging it at the Supreme Court Zambia. To evaluate this challenge, a bench of three Supreme Court judges were established. After evaluation of the challenge, several details were established. According to law, it is essential that any claim against a previous court decision is made within 14 days of the decision itself. In case of the Lusaka High Court judgement on Portland Cement which was given in the month of May, 2018, Dr. Rajan Mahtani had registered a claim at the higher Court of appeal within two weeks. As such, his appeal was accepted at the higher Court and the decision was given on 31st January 2019. However, in case of the Ventriglias’ appeal to the Supreme Court Zambia, the appeal was made more than 16 months later. This is well beyond the legal precedence. Furthermore, the judges at the Supreme Court also confirmed that the evidences surrounding the appeal from the Ventriglias were dubious with no precedence. As such, the appeal by the Ventriglias regarding Portland Cement decision from higher Court of Appeal was effectively rejected.

Majority Shareholding Goes To Finsbury Investments, Portland Cement Zambia Case Closed

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The Portland Cement Zambia case has been finally closed. The case started more than a decade ago when it was registered at the Lusaka High Court by none other than Dr. Rajan Mahtani. Dr. Mahtani had claimed the legal and actual ownership of Portland Cement Zambia and also claimed that the factory was unethically and forcefully taken away from him. Despite having all evidences, facts and testimonials for re-claiming his factory, the Lusaka High Court dragged the case for more than a decade. Major reasons attributing to this long pendency can be lack of proper ethical standings at the court, regular transfers of judges leading to case starting again from the scratch, unethical acts from the opponents such as not attending case hearing or bribing the department and many more. As a result of these challenges, it took more than a decade to make a final announcement to the case. However, even this announcement was controversial. The judge at the Lusaka High Court giving the final judgement was justice Nkonde who announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia.

After this, the second and most important phase of the case started. Dr. Rajan Mahtani took the case to the Court of Appeal, one of the highest civilian courts in Zambia. The judge who took the case was justice Mwinde and he gave the final decision on 31st January 2019, around nine months after the re-appeal. Unlike the previous judges, justice Mwnde looked into all evidences and testimonials and only after complete checking, shared the final results. As per this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the actual owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory as he owns 58 percent shares of the factory. The Ventriglias, on the other hand, hold just 42 percent shares at the factory and are the minority shareholders without any legal ownership. Based on this decision from the Court of Appeal judge, it is clearly established that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the actual owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani now appeals to higher court after Lusaka HC announces verdict

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The Portland Cement Zambia is a noted factory in Zambia with many accomplishments under its belt. Since its establishment by Dr. Rajan Mahtani, the factory has achieved numerous feats. For instance, the factory quickly became one of the biggest producers of cement in Zambia attracting numerous accolades and compliments. The factory also provided wages and salaries higher than industry standards, improving the employment standards across the nation and showing signs of progress. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the real owner of the factory and these achievements were made under his name. However, the present condition of the factory is unbearable as a result of the case going for its legal takeover.

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani

Some of the top evidences submitted by Dr. Rajan Mahtani included signed shareholder’s agreement, financial exhibits which clearly indicated his investments more than USD 12 million in the factory’s development and growth as well as audit report conducted by an independent auditor which clarifies the fact that the Portland Cement Zambia factory was established as a joint venture and Dr. Rajan Mahtani was the sole joint venture partner of the factory with rest of the members being shareholders. The judge who gave the final judgment also announced sometime back that the case hearing is closed. Both sides were asked to submit their evidence and testimonials in written and oral format, based on which the final announcement was to be made.

However, the final verdict made by the judge was unexpected. In his final statement, the Lusaka High Court judge rejected the claims made by Dr. Rajan Mahtani. It was a clear case of misdirected and skewed judgment from the Lusaka High Court judge. It was a shocking verdict for Dr. Mahtani too who was expecting a clear win. However, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is not dejected now and has made an appeal to the higher court of Zambia against this judgment made by the Lusaka High Court justice.