The case of Portland Cement Zambia is known to all. First registered at the Lusaka High Court by Dr. Rajan Mahtani, the case stretched for more than a decade. Even after sharing numerous evidences and testimonials, the final judgement from the court was extremely controversial. According to this judgement which was given by justice Nkonde after more than a decade, Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. To counter this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani then approached the Court of Appeal.
The judgement from Court of Appeal came on 31st January 2019, around nine months after the case was registered there. The announcement was given by justice Mwinde during the morning hours of the Court session. The decision was given after looking into all evidences and testimonials which were ignored earlier. According to this decision, 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 at the factory and is the minority shareholder without any legal ownership. Justice Mwinde also confirmed that his 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 Portland Cement Zambia factory.
While giving this decision, 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 against the interests of the public policies. Furthermore, all forgery related allegations were discarded by the judge and a timeline of three months was given for completing share sales processes.
Even though Zambia is coming out from corruption and unethical practices, transparent and ethical decision making such as these give hope to honest and ethical businessmen like Dr. Rajan Mahtani and there is a need for more of such courts and legal system for overall growth of the nation.
