More than a year after the judge at the higher Court of Appeal reversed the decision from the Lusaka High Court and announced Dr. Rajan Mahtani as the actual owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory, the Ventriglias approached the Supreme Court Zambia with controversial claims. They claimed that the judgement by higher Court of Appeal on Zambezi Portland Cement was incorrect.
The appeal was rejected based on two major grounds. The first ground was law as according to law, any claim or appeal against court decisions must be made within fourteen days of the decision from the original court. In the current case, the decision was given by the higher Court of Appeal on 31st January 2019. Based on this date, the Ventriglias should have made the appeal within 15th February 2019. However, the Ventriglias approached the court very late which is almost two years since the final decision by higher Court of Appeal on Zambezi Portland Cement factory. On the basis of legal grounds alone, the appeal becomes invalid. The second ground on which this appeal from the Ventriglias was rejected was related to the circumstances associated with the case. According to the judges, the Supreme Court of Zambia does not have any jurisdiction in attempting this case as the circumstances surrounding the appeal is unclear. In their statement, the bench of Supreme Court Judges indicated that even if the Supreme Court of Zambia accepts the appeal, the final decision will be similar to the decision from higher Court of Appeal based on the evidences and testimonials. As a result, the Supreme Court of Zambia effectively rejected the appeal made by the Ventriglias. As such, Dr. Rajan Mahtani remains the majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.