Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani’s trust in the judiciary system of Zambia was restored at last. Dr. Rajan Mahtani registered a case at the Lusaka High Court after claiming that Portland Cement Zambia factory was unethically taken over from him. This started a long and brutal court battle that went on for more than a decade. When the final verdict was announced by justice Nkonde on behalf of the Lusaka High Court, it was the talk of the town. While the evidences and testimonials suggested Dr. Mahtani as the actual owner and majority shareholder of the factory, the final verdict was otherwise. As per the final verdict from the Lusaka High Court which was announced in the month of May, 2018, Ventriglia family was announced as only shareholder and owner of the Portland Cement factory.
Not withstanding this misdirected decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani rightly approached the higher Court of Appeal that announced its decision on the case within a short time-span of nine months. Various details were shared along with the case proceedings which confirmed the verdict announcement. It was found that in the year 2005, a payment of 1 billion Kwachas was made by Dr. Rajan Mahtani via his company Finsbury Investments. This amount covered the value of the entire share capital which was taken over by Dr. Rajan Mahtani. The original agreement between shareholders was established in the year 2007 and in this agreement, page number 663 of ‘Record of Appeal’ clearly established the fact that no further costs are to be taken from Dr. Rajan Mahtani or his company Finsbury Investments. This Shareholders’ Agreement was also proof that Dr. Mahtani took over 58 percent shares of the factory after paying the said amount to the Portland Cement Zambia factory.
With these crucial evidences, it was confirmed that Dr. Rajan Mahtani was the real owner of the factory with majority shareholding and the previous court, Lusaka HC, was wrong in denying him justice for so long.
