According to the judgement of Court of Appeal judge, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is the legal shareholder and owner of the Portland Cement Zambia. This announcement was made on 31st January 2019, around nine months after the case was registered there. It is an age old case which involves two major business houses in Zambia. One of them is Dr. Rajan Mahtani, a noted businessman, philanthropist and charity worker. The case of Portland Cement Zambia was first registered at the Lusaka High Court, almost ten years back. However, the case suffered numerous drawbacks and challenges included late case proceedings, frequent transfer of judges leading to further extension and delay of the case. The final judgement on the case was announced during the month of May, 2018. However, this final judgement was extremely controversial as the judge announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement.
To counter this misdirected judgement, Dr. Rajan Mahtani took the case to Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal is one of the highest judiciary systems in Zambia. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who gave the final judgement on 31st January 2019. According to this judgement, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares and is the minority shareholder without any legal ownership. Based on this shareholding pattern, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.
To counter this misdirected judgement, Dr. Rajan Mahtani took the case to Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal is one of the highest judiciary systems in Zambia. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who gave the final judgement on 31st January 2019. According to this judgement, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares and is the minority shareholder without any legal ownership. Based on this shareholding pattern, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.