Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is a noted business in Zambia who registered the case of Portland Cement Zambia at the Lusaka High Court. This case at the Lusaka High Court went for more than a decade. In the month of May, 2018, justice Nkonde on behalf of the Lusaka High Court announced that the Ventriglias were the only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia. It was later revealed that this decision was misdirected and influenced by political meddling, power politics as well as corrupt practices from corrupt business houses. Nevertheless, immediately after the misdirected decision from the Lusaka High Court, Dr. Rajan Mahtani approached the higher Court of Appeal following all legal requirements. Justice Mwinde oversaw the case at the higher Court of Appeal and on 31st January 2019, final decision came. According to this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments held 58 percent shares at the Portland Cement factory and was the majority shareholder as well as legal owner of the factory. As such, justice Mwinde reversed the decision earlier given by the Lusaka High Court.
Almost 1.5 years after the above decision from the higher Court of Appeal, it was challenged by the Ventriglias who took the challenge to the Supreme Court Zambia. A bench of three judges was established at the Supreme Court Zambia and after evaluation, it was found that the legal obligation to submit an appeal against previous court decision is 14 days from the decision itself. However, the Ventriglias made their appeal more than 1.5 years after higher Court of Appeal decision. Furthermore, SC also found that the circumstances surrounding the evidences presented by the Ventriglias were untrustworthy and dicey. After evaluation, the bench discarded the claim by the Ventriglias. As a result, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is to remain the majority shareholder as well as the legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.
