On 31st January 2019, the final judgment on the long pending Portland Cement Zambia case was announced. This judgment was give by Court of Appeal during its morning session in the given date. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde. It should be noted here that Court of Appeal is not the first court where the case was launched. It was Lusaka High Court where Dr. Rajan Mahtani first registered the case. However, Lusaka High Court failed to provide true justice for Dr. Rajan Mahtani despite the case being hanged there for more than a decade. This prompted Dr. Mahtani to take the case to Court of Appeal.
According to the judgment from Court of Appeal, 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 are the minority shareholders without any legal shareholding. It was also revealed that this decision from Court of Appeal aligns with the original shareholders agreement established in the year 2007. As per this decision, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.
Furthermore, justice Mwinde from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement as this decision was biased and misdirected. Furthermore, a timeline of three months from the date of the judgment was been provided for completing all share sales and share regulations related activities.