On 31st January 2019, the judge from the Court of Appeal announced its final decision on Portland Cement Zambia. The case results were given based on the evidences and testimonials provided by both teams. Unlike Lusaka High Court where the case was pending for more than a decade, the judge at the Court of Appeal provided a comparatively quicker decision in nine months. The case is related to Dr. Rajan Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia who claimed that the factory was illegally taken from him. After Lusaka High Court failed to provide the right justice to Dr. Rajan Mahtani, the case was then approached to Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal, provided its final judgment on 31st January 2019. According to this judgment, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the Zambezi Portland Cement factory and is the majority shareholder. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares at the factory and is the minority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. Based on this decision, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is the legal owner of the factory. Furthermore, it was also found that this decision aligned with the original shareholders agreement established in the year 2007.
While giving this judgment, justice Mwinde from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders as this decision was biased, misdirected and without any evidences. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal judge also discarded all forgery related allegations by confirming that the process of mechanically placing signatures for business transactions was a common practice in Zambezi Portland Cement. It was also found that critical member of the Ventriglia family, Claudio Ventriglia, engaged in similar practice and as a result, this forgery allegation was dissolved by the judge.