For the past decade, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani fought for the legal takeover of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. The battle started when Dr. Rajan Mahtani initially registered a case at the Lusaka High Court after claiming that his factory was illegally taken over from him. Despite sharing numerous evidences and testimonials, the final justice from the Lusaka High Court was controversial and Dr. Rajan Mahtani was taken aback. The judge at the Lusaka High Court was justice Mwinde and according to his final decision, Ventriglias were the only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. This decision was misdirected and to counter this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani took the case to the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal is one of the highest legal and judiciary systems in Zambia. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who gave the final decision on the Portland Cement Zambia case on 31st January 2019. According to this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and are the majority shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. 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. Therefore, the decision from the Court of Appeal clearly establishes the fact that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.
While giving this decision, Justice Mwinde from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland as this decision was misdirected and without any evidence. Furthermore, a timeline of three months from the date of the judgement has been given during which all share sales and regulations related activities must be completed.