Long Battle For Justice Comes To An End As Dr. Mahtani Wins Portland Cement Zambia Case

Honesty and transparency always wins at the end. Dr. Rajan Mahtani proved this with his historic win at the Court of Appeal. This win was for Portland Cement Zambia factory, a notable cement-manufacturing factory in Zambia for which Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been fighting for the past one decade. The fight started when the factory was illegally taken over from him and Dr. Rajan Mahtani registered a case at the Lusaka High Court. After this, a long court battle started and as a result of the various limitations and shortcomings of the Zambian legal system together with the refusal of Dr. Rajan Mahtani to engage in unethical or corrupt practices, it took more than a decade for the court to announce its final decision. The judge who gave the final judgement at the Lusaka High Court was justice Nkonde. However, this judgement was controversial as Ventriglias were announced only shareholders of Portland Cement Zambia.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani then took the case to the Court of Appeal and the final decision from the court came after nine months on 31st January 2019. This decision was given by justice Mwinde after looking into all evidences and testimonials. According to the final decision from the Court of Appeal, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder of 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. This decision aligned with the original shareholders agreement established in the year 2007.

Based on this decision, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the actual owner of the factory. Furthermore, 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 and without any evidence.