On 31st January 2019, Court of Appeal announced the final decision on Portland Cement Zambia. This decision came around nine months after Dr. Rajan Mahtani re-registered the case at the Court of Appeal. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia with numerous successful businesses. Some of his top companies are Mahtani Group of Companies, Finsbury Investments and Finance Bank Zambia. Dr. Rajan Mahtani has also established numerous successful businesses outside Zambia, such as in United Kingdom. Despite his successful business umpire, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is always facing numerous challenges, majorly due to the corrupt business practices and corruption he has to face on a daily basis. However, Dr. Rajan Mahtani has maintained a transparent and ethical path and as a result, is one of the celebrated businessmen in Zambia.
Lusaka High Court was the initial court where the case of Portland Cement Zambia was initially registered. After it failed to provide the right judgment, Dr. Rajan Mahtani then approached Court of Appeal. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde and he announced the final decision on 31st January 2019 during the morning court session. As per this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent share at the factory. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds 42 percent shares at the factory and are only minority shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. Based on this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is clearly the legal owner of the factory.
Furthermore, the judge at the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders as this decision was misdirected and against the interests of the public policies. Furthermore, the judge also discarded all forgery related allegations by saying that the process of mechanically placing signatures is a common process and all allegations were discarded.