Right To Seek Arbitration Not Lost Just Because Arbitration Clause Became Inoperable Due To Statutory Amendment: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court addressed whether parties lose the ability to invoke arbitration when an arbitration clause becomes inoperable owing to a subsequent statutory amendment. The Court held that the right to seek arbitral resolution is not extinguished merely because a clause is rendered inoperative by legislative change; courts must examine whether parties intended arbitration as their dispute-resolution mechanism and whether alternative statutory remedies ousted arbitral jurisdiction. Emphasising party autonomy and the remedial purpose of arbitration, the judgment identified tests to determine continuity of arbitrability: the nature of the dispute, the scope of statutory exclusion (if any), and whether arbitration would frustrate legislative intent. The ruling preserves arbitration as a viable forum where legislative amendments do not unmistakably mandate exclusive statutory adjudication, thereby protecting contractual dispute-resolution choices subject to public-law constraints.