Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been fighting for the legal takeover of the Zambezi Portland Cement for more than ten years. First, it was the Lusaka High Court where the case was registered, almost ten years back. The final decision by the Lusaka High Court judge was announced during May 2018. However, this decision by the Lusaka High Court judge shocked everyone as despite evidences stating otherwise, the judge announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. As such, Dr. Rajan Mahtani took the right decision and approached the Court of Appeal in Zambia.

The Court of Appeal announced its decision on 31^st January 2019. According to this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani was the legal and authentic owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory with majority of the shares. The judge, Justice Mwinde, also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as the only shareholders without looking into the evidences and the testimonials. The judgement from the Court of Appeal also aligns with the original shareholders agreement established in 2007.

As per the decision by the Zambian Court of Appeal which was given on 31^st January 2019, Finsbury Investments has paid a sum of K 580,000,000, pre-rebased with interest. This sum has been given for commercial registration of the factory and in compliance with the judgement. In a similar manner, Finsbury Investments also made claims of K1 billion with interest on the Zambezi Portland Cement. This claim is made for payment made on 27^th July 2005 which was for entire share capital issues for Zambezi Portland Cement. According to the further confirmations of the Court of Appeal, share transfers made during January 2007 and December 2006 are valid and as such, Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares as well as Ital Terrazzo Limited holds 42 percent shares of the total share capital issues for Zambezi Portland Cement.

Justice may be late but always arrives for those who are ethical, honest and transparent. Dr. Rajan Mahtani had waited patiently for more than a decade for justice in case of Zambezi Portland Cement. However, despite sharing numerous evidences and testimonials, the final judgement at the Lusaka High Court was given against Dr. Mahtani’s claims. As such, Dr. Mahtani took the right step in approaching Court of Appeal for further judgement.

The Court of Appeal, on 31^st January 2019, gave its final judgement on Zambezi Portland Cement. This judgement came almost 9 months from the decision given by Lusaka High Court. This decision at Court of Appeal was given by Justice Mwinde who also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders without evidence.

As per the decision by Court of Appeal, Finsbury Investments which is owned by Dr. Rajan Mahtani holds 58 percent shares and is majority shareholder of Zambezi Portland. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited owned 42 percent shares at the factory and are minority shareholder of the factory. This decision is aligned with original Shareholders Agreement which was established in the year 2005.

During the court proceedings, several details were shared related to the case. It was found that Finsbury investments had paid a sum of K580,000,000 to the court along with interest in compliance with the Zambian High Court. Along with it, Finsbury Investments has also claimed a sum of K1 billion with interest on the Zambezi Portland Cement against payment made on the 27^th of July 2005. This claim has been made against the entire share capital issues for Zambezi Portland Cement. It was also confirmed by the Court of Appeal that share transfers in the year 2006 and 2007 were valid. As a consequence of this, Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and are majority shareholders. Ventriglias are minority shareholders with 42 percent shares and have no right over the factory. Based on this fact alone, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investment is the sole owner of the factory.

Court of Appeal is one of the higher judgment providers across all nations. As such, the judgment announced by the Court of Appeal in Zambia on 31^st January was an important one. It was related to Zambezi Portland Cement, a cement manufacturing factory in Zambia. The cement factory was being contested by two major business entities in Zambia; Dr. Rajan Mahtani and the Ventriglias. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is one of the most successful and authentic businessman in Zambia with many top companies across the nation as well as outside Zambia. The Ventriglias are a noted Italian business family in Zambia with many controversies surrounding them. The Zambezi Portland Case has been contested at the Lusaka High Court for more than ten years. During this time, both sides shared evidences and other factual data to prove their legal claim and as per expert opinion, Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s case was much stronger and relevant. However, all were surprised when the final judgment announced by the Lusaka High Court judge was against Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s claim. The decision was given during May 2018 wherein the Lusaka High Court Justice Nkonde declared the Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. This prompted Dr. Rajan Mahtani to request the Court of Appeal to look into the matter.

Final decision on Zambezi Portland was announced on 31^st January 2019. As per this judgment, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the sole joint venture owner of the factory. This decision refutes the previous decision given by the Lusaka High Court judge. It announces that Finsbury Investments which is a company owned by Dr. Rajan Mahtani holds 58 percent shares at the factory and the Ventriglias hold 42 percent shares at the factory. As such, Finsbury Investments is the majority shareholder for the factory. Furthermore, all charges of forgery have been discarded by the Court of Appeal and it has been announced that all parties will be reprocess the sales of shares within three months from the judgment date.

On 31^st January 2019, the absolute truth regarding the ownership of Portland Cement Zambia was announced by the law. Portland Cement Zambia is a cement-manufacturing factory which was contested by two major business houses in Zambia. One of them was Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, a noted businessman, international venture and philanthropist with more than three decades of business experience. Despite sharing numerous evidences and testimonials which proved his legal ownership, the final decision from the judge at Lusaka High Court was given against Dr. Mahtani. While it was a big blow for Dr. Rajan Mahtani, he was able to launch another appeal at the ‘Higher Court of Appeal’ regarding this injustice at the lower court and patiently waited for justice.

He was finally rewarded for his patience on 31^st January 2019 when the ‘Court of Appeal’ announced in its judgement that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is majority shareholder for the Zambezi Portland Cement. Along with this, numerous significant revelations were made. The judge giving the judgement at the Court of Appeal was Mr. Mwinde Siavwapa. He stated that the justice below him, Justice Nkonde was misdirected in giving the judgement that the Ventriglias had majority shareholdings in the Zamebzi Portland Cement. In a judgment which lasted for almost 90 minutes, the judge from Court of Appeal announced that the majority shareholder of Zambezi Portland is Finsbury Investments. It is a company owned by Dr. Rajan Mahtani. It was also confirmed that the Ventriglias held 42 percent shares at the factory and were the minority shareholders. This judgement was in line with the original shareholders agreement which was established in the year 2007 and was signed by all involving parties.

Also, as per the direction of the Court of Appeal, all parties need to finalise on regulating the shareholding sales as per the new judgment and as per the original shareholders agreement. The court have provided a time period of three months for finalizing this sales of shares.