Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s Claim Finally Approved By The Court Of Appeal, Given Majority Shareholding

Zambia is a slow developing nation within the African sub-continent. The country has observed several declines, challenges, few instances of development and many instances of corruption and unethical practices. The country is continuously reeling from economic and social issues and as a result, it becomes extremely difficult for ethical and honest businessmen to establish their bases within the nation. As a result, there are only a few businessmen in Zambia who have been successful in maintaining transparent and ethical business practices. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is one of them who has been able to successfully establish his various businesses in Zambia despite these challenges. Some of the companies which are known for successfully running despite the regular corruption within the economy are Mahtani Group of Companies and Finsbury Investments. Another company from Dr. Rajan Mahtani is Portland Cement Zambia, a noted cement manufacturing factory which was unethically taken over from Dr. Mahtani.

After this illegal takeover, Lusaka High Court was approached for justice. However, justice was not given despite more than a decade of court proceedings and several evidences and testimonials submitted before the court. The judge at the Lusaka High Court was justice Nkonde who gave the final decision against Dr. Mahtani’s claims. According to this misdirected decision, Ventriglias were announced as only shareholders of Portland Cement Zambia.

It was clear that this decision from Lusaka High Court was mislead and promoted re-appeal to Court of Appeal. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde and the final judgement on this case was given on 31^st January 2019. As per this quick judgement, Dr. Mahtani was announced as majority shareholder of Portland Cement Zambia. On the other hand, it was also found that the Ventriglias were actually only minority shareholders and did not have any legal ownership over Portland Cement. Based on this judgement which also aligned with original shareholders agreement, it is confirmed that Dr. Mahtani is actual owner of Portland Cement.