31st January 2019 was an important date for Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia. On this day, the court of Appeal announced its judgment on Zambezi Portland Cement. It is a cement factory for which Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been fighting for the past ten years. The case was initially registered at the Lusaka High Court was it went for many years. The latest judge to take over the case was Justice Nkonde and he delivered the final judgment on the Zambezi Portland during May 2019. However, this decision was condemned by many as it was against the interest of the public policies. As such, another step was taken by Dr. Rajan Mahtani and the case was then approached to Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal on 31st January 2019 announced its judgment on Zambezi Portland. This judgment was provided by Justice Mwinde and during the proceedings, he also said that the judge below him, Justice Nkonde, was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders of Zambezi Portland Cement without any evidence. As per the decision by the Court of Appeal, Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder. On the other hand, Ital Terrazzo Limited holds 42 percent shares and is the minority shareholder of the factory. Finsbury Investments is a noted company in Zambia owned by Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani. On the other hand, Ital Terrazzo Limited is the family business of the Ventriglias in Zambia.
The Ventriglias had also filed for forgery allegations which were discarded completely by the judge at the Court of Appeal. Accordingly, it was said that the process of mechanically placing signatures was a common concept when conducting business transactions within Zambezi Portland Cement. In fact, member of the Ventriglia family Claudio Ventriglia itself engaged in similar practice for an international business deal. As such, the allegations were discarded and a timeline of three months was given for both parties to finalize on share regularization process.