Supreme Court rebuffs PCL on Presscane
The Supreme Court of Appeal has declined a request by Press Corporation Limited (PCL) for the court to review its judgement made last December in favour of businessperson and retired politician Rolf Patel and his sons.
The business conglomerate wanted the Supreme Court to grant it permission to apply for review of the judgement in which the court ruled that Patel and his sons were entitled to 49.9 percent shares in Presscane Limited.
This is a 20-year-old court case in which Patel and his partners are fighting the Malawi Stock Exchange-listed largest holding company in the country over ownership of Presscane Limited, an ethanol distillery company which began its operations in 2004.
In an interview yesterday, PCL lawyer Davis Njobvu confirmed going to the Supreme Court to ask for permission to apply for review of the judgement delivered last December, but did not succeed. The matter was heard by Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda and Justices of Appeal Lovemore Chikopa and Frank Kapanda,
Said Njobvu: “So, we basically went to the Supreme Court to apply for permission in relation to the judgement that was delivered in December last year.
“Unfortunately, the court refused to grant that permission.”
He said PCL will now wait for the ruling to be delivered in due course where the judges will give reasons for refusing the application before the conglomerate decides the next course of action.
Lawyer for the Patels, Justin Dzonzi, did not pick up his phone yesterday but the retired politician in a brief interview expressed a sigh of relief, saying: “I believe, as it stands now, the matter is coming to an end.
“The judges are very well-informed and that in seeking justice they just did the right thing. Overall, we are very happy that the court continues to agree with our position.”
Delivering their judgement last December, the three justices of appeal ruled that the Patels owned 49.9 percent while the remaining 50.1 percent shares belong to PCL.
The panel further ordered that Patel and his sons, namely Reuben Patel, Stanley Patel and Rolf Patel Junior, were shareholders of Cane Products Limited as such are entitled to dividends Presscane had been making for the past 19 years.
Patel used to run Cane Products Limited until 2003 when he partnered with PCL to establish Presscane Limited before PCL claimed full ownership.
