Portland Cement Zambia is a noted cement manufacturing factory in Zambia. Off late, the factory has been caught in the midst of a legal battle for its ownership. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is a respected businessman in Zambia with numerous successful institutions. After the Portland Cement Zambia factory was taken over from him, he launched a case at the Lusaka High Court.
During the long trial of Portland Cement Zambia, Dr. Rajan Mahtani and his lawyers have presented numerous factual evidence and information in written formats as well as numerous testimonials to prove the claims made by Dr. Mahtani. A signed shareholder’s agreement was shared which sufficiently indicates the involvement and agreement of all shareholders associated with the cement factory with regards to their shares. Financial exhibits were shared which indicated investment of more than USD 12 million by Dr. Mahtani owned Finsbury Investment over the development of Portland Cement factory. Furthermore, an independent audit was conducted during Dr. Mahtani’s leadership and as per this independent audit report shared by the independent auditor, the factory was established as a joint venture and Dr. Rajan Mahtani was the sole joint venture owner of the factory. This evidence was more than enough to prove that Dr. Mahtani was the real owner of Portland Cement Zambia.
The judgment made by the Lusaka High Court judge was shocking as the final verdict was given against Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s claims. This was a heartbreaking moment for Dr. Mahtani who still believes in law and its transparency. However, Dr. Mahtani is not among those to sit and accept a decision which is against law and against the ethical practices. As such, he has made an appeal to the higher court of law and has also shared all those evidence and documents with the higher court and is awaiting a reply.