In Brief
The Kerala Revocation of Arbitration Clauses and Reopening of Awards Act, 1998 sought to cancel arbitration clauses and revoke arbitrators' authority in contracts for a state irrigation project, allowing the government to reopen finalized arbitral awards. Although the Court found the Act fell within Kerala's legislative competence under the Concurrent List and was saved by Presidential assent, it declared the Act unconstitutional because it violated the separation of powers doctrine. The Court held that the judicial power exercised by courts in confirming arbitration awards as enforceable decrees cannot be nullified by legislation, and that vested rights crystallized through final judicial decisions cannot be retrospectively extinguished by the legislature.
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