In the month of May, 2018, justice Nkonde on behalf of the Lusaka High Court gave a controversial decision to the Zambezi Portland Cement case which was initially registered by Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani. In this decision, the judge declared the Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.
However, Dr. Rajan Mahtani was able to quash this unethical decision by immediately challenging this decision at the higher Court of Appeal. Judge Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal announced his final decision on 31st January 2019. According to this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani was found to be the majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory with 58 percent shares. Judge Mwinde also discarded the previous decision from the Lusaka High Court and announced that the actual amount payable against the majority shares hold by Finsbury Investments is K580,000 as opposed to K580 million claimed by the Ventriglias.
After more than 15 months of this decision from the higher Court of Appeal, the Ventriglias again created a buzz around the cement factory by challenging the decision at the Supreme Court Zambia. To evaluate their claim, a bench of three judges was established. After investigation, it was found that the Ventriglias failed the legal obligation behind making such appeal. According to the law, any appeal against previous court decision should be made within 14 days of the court judgement itself. The Ventriglias did not comply with this compulsory legal requirement, making their claim out of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Similarly, the Supreme Court judges’ bench declared that the claims surrounding the challenge by the Ventriglias were controversial and therefore, it was rejected outright. By rejecting this claim from the Ventriglias, the Supreme Court Zambia further strengthened the decision from the higher Court of Appeal which clearly states that Dr. Mahtani is the actual owner of the Portland Cement factory.