On 31st January 2019, the reality of the Portland Cement Zambia case was finally out. This reality included a final verdict from the higher Court of Appeal, identification of the real owner of the cement-manufacturing factory as well as identification of all evidences, testimonials and facts that resulted in the final decision for the case. The case started more than a decade ago when Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist registered a case at the Lusaka High Court with the hopes of getting a quick decision. Considering the fact that Dr. Rajan Mahtani had all evidences, testimonials as well as other details which were sufficient to prove his ownership over the factory, the case was expected to be quick and transparent. However, it turned out to be one of the most controversial high-profile corporate cases in Zambia. During the month of May, 2018, after around one decade of case proceedings and dragging of the case, the final decision was given by justice Nkonde on behalf of the Lusaka High Court. According to this verdict, the Ventriglias despite having any firm evidences to prove their claim, were announced as only shareholders of Portland Cement.
To counter this evidence, Dr. Mahtani successfully approached higher Court of Appeal and with the evidences he had, he was able to turn the previous judgement. Several evidences were shared by Dr. Rajan Mahtani. The first evidence was transfer of one billion kwachas or USD 250,000 from Finsbury Investments to Zambezi Portland Cement limited. The second major evidence was the original shareholders agreement in which page number 663 clearly established the fact that Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani made all payments associated with the cement factory along with all associated taxes and was not liable for any more costs associated with the case. Furthermore, it was also confirmed that the process of mechanical placement of signatures was a common practice at Zambezi Portland Cement. With all these evidences, it has been proved that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the actual owner of the Portland Cement factory.
