The Court of Appeal announced its final decision on Portland Cement Zambia on 31^st January 2019. This decision came around nine months after Dr. Rajan Mahtani re-appealed after Lusaka High Court failed to provide right justice. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde. After looking into the evidences and testimonials, the judge announced that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments was majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited was the minority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory with only 42 percent shares. This decision aligns with the original shareholders agreement established in 2007 and according to this judgement; Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is clearly the legal owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory.

Along with the final judgement at the Court of Appeal, the judge also said that the previous judge failed to share critical details associated with the case. On 6^th February 2019, Finsbury Investments reportedly paid a sum of K580,000,000 billion to the court in regards to the case. This payment was made for commercial registration of the factory in compliance with the court order. At the same time, Finsbury Investments had also claimed a sum of K1 billion with interests against the entire share capital issued for Portland Cement Zambia factory. The judge at the Court of Appeal has also confirmed this payment and share transfers with the evidence of financial reports and share transfer reports. These evidences have further established the fact that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments holds majority shares and is the legal owner of the factory.

Several news media outlets and publications came after the final decision from Court of Appeal, maligning the judgement of the court. However, these publications were found to be fake and inconsistent and therefore were either discarded by the public or removed by authorities.

If one goes by the latest results from the Court of Appeal, it is clear that the criminal intentions of the infamous Ventriglias family in Zambia have been finally uplifted. This pertains to the case of Portland Cement Zambia, which has been going on for so many years. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman in Zambia who registered this case at the Lusaka High Court. This was almost a decade back and the final results were only announced in the year 2018. Despite this long tenure, the final results were unpredictable as the judge at the Lusaka High Court declared Ventriglias as only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. To counter this misdirected decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani then approached Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal announced its final judgement on 31^st January 2019. According to this judgement, Finsbury Investments owned 58 percent shares at the factory and Ital Terrazzo Limited owned just 42 percent shares at the factory. While Finsbury Investments is a company owned by Dr. Rajan Mahtani, the Ventriglias are the owner of Ital Terrazzo Limited. Based on this shareholding pattern, Dr. Mahtani becomes the majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory and the Ventriglias are only minority shareholder. This shareholding pattern also aligns with original shareholders agreement established in 2007 and confirms Dr. Mahtani as legal owner of the factory.

Forgery related allegations were dismissed by the Court of Appeal as the judge announced that the process of mechanical placement of signatures was a common practice in Zambia and even critical member of the Ventriglia family, Claudio Ventriglia mechanically placed signatures for employment contracts. As such, all forgery related allegations were discarded. The Court of Appeal also stated that all parties were required to complete share regularization process within three months from the date of the judgement.

The factual details and evidences given by Dr. Rajan Mahtani regarding Portland Cement Zambia were finally given true justice at the Court of Appeal. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia and has been constantly building successful companies within the nation as well as across other international locations too. Some of his top companies are Finsbury Investments, Mahtani Group of Companies and Finance Bank Zambia. He is also known for his philanthropic and charitable activities and working towards the social and economic uplifting of the Zambian society. Despite these contributions, he is often targeted by jealous individuals and groups.

The case of Lusaka High Court can be considered as a big limitation of the Zambian legal system to provide transparent and ethical justice. Dr. Rajan Mahtani had initially approached the Lusaka High Court expecting a quick judgement as he had all evidences, factual details and testimonials to prove his legal ownership over the factory. However, the court proceedings stretched for ten years and despite this long tenure, the final judgement was not justified. The judge at the Lusaka High Court was justice Nkonde and he announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement.

Considering this judgement to be unethical, Dr. Rajan Mahtani then approached the Court of Appeal, one of the highest civilian courts in Zambia. The Court of Appeal gave its final judgement on 31^st January 2019. According to this judgement, 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 42 percent shares and is just minority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. This shareholding pattern also aligned with original shareholders agreement established in the year 2007. As such, Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been rightly announced as the legal owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory.

While the judgement on the Portland Cement Zambia came at last, it came at significant cost. This cost was in the form of time during which the Zambezi Portland Cement factory degraded to the extent of closure. This cost was also in the form of time and money spent by honest businessmen like Dr. Rajan Mahtani who spent an entire decade seeking justice from the Lusaka High Court. Despite spending this significant cost, Dr. Rajan Mahtani was not given justice by the court when the final decision was made. According to this decision by Justice Nkonde at the Lusaka HC, Ventriglias were held as only stakeholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. Naturally, this decision caused a stir everywhere and Dr. Rajan Mahtani was forced to take the case to higher Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal announced its final judgement on 31^st January 2019. The decision was given by Justice Mwinde and safe to say that the highest court within the Zambian nation did not disappoint. According to this decision by the Court of Appeal, Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement. On the other hand, Ventriglias are the minority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with only 42 percent shares. According to this shareholding pattern, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is the legal owner of the Zambezi Portland factory. This decision is in line with the original Shareholders Agreement which was established in the year 2007. Furthermore, while giving this decision, the judge at the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders of Zambezi Portland Cement without any evidence or factual confirmation.

As of now, a timeline of three months from the date of the judgement has been provided by the justice at the Court of Appeal during which all share regularization process must be completed.

Court of Appeal is one of the highest decision-making bodies across any nation. It has similar repute as the Supreme Court of any nation. As such, any decision given by the Court of Appeal is of umpteen importance and is considered as the final judgment. In case of the Zambezi Portland Cement, the final decision was given by the Court of Appeal on 31^st January 2019. According to this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the majority shareholder and legal owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement. By giving this decision, the judge from the Court of Appeal effectively reversed the judgment by the Lusaka High Court given last year. The judge from the Lusaka High Court, Justice Nkonde, gave decision on May 2018 that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. Contesting this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani then approached the Court of Appeal which announced its decision nine months later.

The judge from the Court of Appeal was Justice Mwinde who also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders without having any proof or evidence. Furthermore, forgery allegations were charged by the Ventriglias which were completely discarded by the judge. Justice Mwinde gave the final decision that the process of mechanically placing signatures for business transactions was a common practice across Zambezi Portland Cement and in fact, member of Ventriglia family engaged in similar practices. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal gave a time period of three months from judgment date during which all parties are required to finalize on the process of share regularization process.

In the meantime, Finsbury Investments have claimed a sum of K1 billion against the payment made for entire share capital issues of Zambezi Portland Cement. The payment has been confirmed by the Court of Appeal with evidences of payments during late 2006 and early 2007.