On 31st January 2019, the final result for the Portland Cement Zambia case was announced. This decision came from Court of Appeal; around nine months after Dr. Rajan Mahtani approached the Court with the case. Before the Court of Appeal, Dr. Rajan Mahtani had initially approached the Lusaka High Court claiming that his factory was illegally taken over from him. Despite sharing numerous evidences and testimonials, the final decision from the Lusaka High Court judge was controversial. The judge at the Lusaka High Court was justice Nkonde and according to his decision, Ventriglias were announced as only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia. To counter this decision, Dr. Mahtani then approached the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal is one of the highest civilian court systems in Zambia. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who gave the final decision on 31st January 2019, after looking into all evidences and testimonials. According to this decision, Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. Finsbury Investments is an entity owned by Dr. Rajan Mahtani. On the other hand, Ital Terrazzo Limited holds 42 percent shares at the factory and is the minority shareholder without any legal ownership over the factory. Ital Terrazzo Limited is an entity owned by the Ventriglias. This decision from the Court of Appeal judge aligned with the original shareholders agreement established in the year 2007. As per this decision from the Court of Appeal, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the actual owner of the factory.
While giving this decision, several other announcements were made by the Court of Appeal judge. All forgery related allegations were discarded as these allegations were baseless. The Court of Appeal judge also said that the judge below him was misdirected in announcing Ventriglias as only shareholders of the Portland Cement as the decision was without any evidence or factual basis.