The Portland Cement Zambia case had been pending at the Lusaka High Court for more than a decade. The case was registered by Dr. Rajan Mahtani himself after his factory was illegally taken over from him. After this, several case proceedings took place and the case dragged for more than a decade. During this time, Dr. Rajan Mahtani and his lawyers submitted numerous evidences and testimonials which were more than enough to prove Dr. Rajan Mahtani as legal owner of the factory. However, challenges and drawbacks were faced as a result of weak legal system in Zambia and the final result declared was extremely controversial. According to this final result, Ventriglias were announced only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement.
To counter this judgement, the case was then taken to the Court of Appeal. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who gave the final judgement on 31st January 2019. According to this judgement, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares at the factory and is the minority shareholder without any legal ownership. This decision from the Court of Appeal aligns with the original shareholders agreement which was established in the year 2007. From this decision, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the only majority holder and legal owner of the factory.
While giving this decision, the judge from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders as this decision was misdirected and without any evidence. Similarly, the judge also gave a timeline of three months from the date of the judgement during which all share sales as well as regulations related activities must be completed.