Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman in Zambia. With his 30 years of successful business background, Dr. Rajan Mahtani has established numerous businesses across the nation including Mahtani Group of Companies, Finsbury Investments and Finance Bank Zambia. He is also the owner of Portland Cement Zambia for which he is fighting a long battle. This battle is against the other contestants, the Ventriglias, as well as with the inability of the Zambian legal system to provide appropriate justice to an honest, ethical and transparent businessman.
The case of Portland Cement Zambia lay waste at the Lusaka High Court for more than ten years. Despite sharing all types of evidences and testimonials, no final decision was made. However, when the final decision on the case was given after more than ten years, it raised many eyebrows. The final judgement from the Lusaka High Court came from Justice Nkonde, who announced that the Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. It was very clear that the judgement was influenced by external forces and therefore, Dr. Mahtani took the right step and approaches the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal is one of the highest civilian courts in Zambia. It has a reputation of providing true justice and it did not fail this time too. The judge from the Court of Appeal was justice Nkonde who announced that Finsbury Investments were majority shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, the Ventriglias who owned Ital Terrazzo Limited held 42 percent shares at the factory and were the minority shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. As per this shareholding pattern, Dr. Rajan Mahtani who owns the Finsbury Investments becomes the real and legal owner of the factory.
The judge also discarded all forgery related allegations by considering them as invalid. Some publications and news reported foul-play after the judgement from Court of Appeal but were later redacted as these were inconsistent.
