The Livingstone High Court has rejected an application to stay the execution of its previous judgment, which had overturned the appointment of an Interim Business Rescue Administrator for Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd. In a ruling dated 9th September 2024, the court determined that there was no basis to grant a stay of execution. The court stated, “There is no remedy to warrant a stay of execution,” and added that denying the stay would not render the appeal irrelevant.
John Musheta, acting as a proxy for Kalenga, had applied to stay or suspend the dismissal of their case and the quashing of the Administrator’s appointment pending their intended appeal to the Court of Appeal. In their attempt to halt the Administrator’s dismissal, the applicant’s lawyers, Lewis Nathan Advocates, argued that their appeal had strong chances of success, being based on points of law, and that granting the stay would not cause any prejudice. They insisted that the court should allow the stay, as the ruling could be enforced.
On 15th April 2024, Lewis Nathan Advocates and Bernard Kang’ombe Associates had secured an ex parte order to place Sun Pharmaceuticals under supervision and initiate business rescue proceedings under the Corporate Insolvency Act. They aimed to appoint Treshod Kabanga as Business Rescue Administrator through a default judgment, after the Ndola High Court had stayed his ex parte appointment as Provisional Liquidator on 2nd April 2024. Their attempt to secretly place Sun Pharmaceuticals into business administration was foiled. Had it succeeded, the Solicitor General might have used the Administration Order to seize the 117 million Swiss francs owed to Sun Pharmaceuticals.
Source: Lusaka Times
