Court Of Appeal Has Confirmed That Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani Is Majority Shareholder Of PCZ

On 31st January 2019, the final results of the clinical trial associated with the long endearing Portland Cement Zambia case were finalised. The results came from Court of Appeal which is the second court to take-up the case. It is important to note here that Dr. Rajan Mahtani had initially registered the case at the Lusaka High Court after claiming that the factory was illegally taken over him. After that, numerous evidences and testimonials were shared by Dr. Rajan Mahtani which was more than enough to prove his legal ownership over the factory. However, the final results from the Portland Cement Zambia were controversial. The judge at the Portland Cement Zambia was justice Nkonde and according to his final decision, Ventriglias were announced as only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. It is clear that this decision is misdirected and as a result, Dr. Rajan Mahtani had no choice but to approach the higher Court of Appeal.

The judge at the higher Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who gave the final judgement on the case on 31st January 2019. According to this judgement, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is majority shareholder of the Portland Cement Zambia with 58 percent shares. 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 from 2005. Based on this decision, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.

The judge from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory as this decision was biased and without any legal evidence or framework.