31st January 2019 was a significant date for Dr. Rajan Mahtani as on this date, he was finally rewarded the legal ownership of Portland Cement Zambia factory. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia who had been fighting for the legal takeover of the Portland Cement Zambia factory for the past ten years. He started this journey for justice almost a decade back when the factory was illegally taken over from him. The case was originally registered at the Lusaka High Court where it went for more than a decade. During this time, numerous case proceedings took place and Dr. Mahtani shared numerous evidences and testimonials for proving his legal ownership over the factory. Despite these legal evidences, testimonials and other factual data, justice was not given. The judge at the Lusaka High Court was justice Nkonde according to whose judgement Ventriglias were announced as only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement.
It was clear that this judgement was controversial and as a result, Dr. Rajan Mahtani approached the Court of Appeal which is one of the highest civilian courts in Zambia. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who gave the final judgement on 31st January 2019 after looking into all evidences and testimonials. According to this judgement, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent shares at 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 over the factory. Based on this decision, it is clear that Dr. Mahtani is the legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.
Justice Mwinde from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders as this decision was misdirected.