31st January 2019 was a significant day for Dr. Rajan Mahtani as he was finally rewarded for his years of patience and perseverance towards justice and transparency. Dr. Mahtani is a noted businessman in Zambia who fought for the legal takeover of the Portland Cement Zambia factory for more than a decade. This fight started when his factory was illegally taken over from him and Dr. Rajan Mahtani registered a case at the Lusaka High Court in response. Despite having all necessary documents, evidences and testimonials to prove his legal ownership over the factory, the judgement dragged for more than a decade. During the month of May, 2018, justice Nkonde from the Lusaka High Court gave the final judgement on the case. However, it was a controversial judgement as justice Nkonde announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.
In response, Dr. Rajan Mahtani approached the Court of Appeal. 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 is the majority shareholder and owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory as his company Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory. On the other hand, Ventriglias are only a minority shareholder of the factory as their entity Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares at the factory. This decision from the Court of Appeal 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 Portland Cement Zambia factory.
With respect to forgery allegations, all allegations were discarded. Justice Mwinde gave the decision that the process of mechanically placing signatures was a common practice in Zambia and critical member of the Zambia family, Claudio Ventriglia, engaged in similar practice. As such, all allegations were discarded.
