On 31st January 2019, Dr. Rajan Mahtani finally won the long-pending battle for the Portland Cement Zambia. It was a long case which stretched for more than a decade. Dr. Rajan Mahtani had initially registered this case at the Lusaka High Court. For more than a decade, case proceedings took place and the final decision remained pending for several shortcomings of the court. It should be noted here that a few months before the final decision, Justice Nkonde declared that he is closing the case proceeding and final results will be announced after looking into all evidences and testimonials submitted before the court. It was a very positive announcement for Dr. Rajan Mahtani as he had almost all of the evidences and testimonials to prove his legal ownership over the factory. Despite sharing these evidences, the final decision from the Lusaka High Court judge was extremely controversial. According to this judgement, Ventriglias were announced as only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia.
After this controversial judgement, Dr. Rajan Mahtani approached the Court of Appeal. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who gave the final decision on 31st January 2019. According to this final decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder of the factory. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares at the factory and are the minority shareholders without any legal ownership over 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 only majority shareholder and owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.
While giving this judgement, justice Mwinde also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as the only shareholders as this decision was misdirected.