The Supreme Court has ordered the Kerala government to return 10 cashew nut factories it had taken over 30 years ago. The court ruled that the government takeover was unconstitutional and ordered the government to hand over the factories to their owners within eight weeks. Legislation intended to overcome court orders was an encroachment into judicial power, a bench comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R.F. Nariman observed. The order came on an appeal against a Kerala High Court order upholding the takeover of the factories. The factories have been run by the Kerala State Cashew Workers Apex Industrial Co-operative Society (Capex) since they were taken over by the government in 1984-86 based on section 3 of the Kerala Cashew Factories Acquisition (Amendment) Act 1974. Though the owners went to the Kerala High Court, their petitions were turned down on January 1, 1995. The government acquired 36 more factories in 1988 and operated them under the Cashew Development Corporation. The owners filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court, which ruled in their favour in the Indian Nut Products Case. The government returned the 36 factories to their owners on May 20, 1994. A similar decision was made in the case of the earlier 10 factories on March 10, 1995 but the government never implemented it. When the factory owners filed a contempt of court petition, the government apologised and settled the case in 1996. However, the Kerala Cashew Factories Acquisition (Amendment) Act was passed with retrospective effect from May 1, 1984. Though the law was intended to cover the entire 46 factories the government had taken over in two instances, an appendix listed only the 10 under contention. The high court held the legislation valid, saying the 36 factories already returned and the 10 were not in the same class. S.T. Sadiq went in appeal. The petitioner’s counsel, Krishnan Venugopal, argued that the legislation’s only purpose was to overcome court rulings. The fixation of price for the land on which the factories stood, was also challenged. The price was fixed based on the market rate of the land in the year the factory was established. Though the factory stood on 97 cents of land, the government had taken over 1.86 acres, the petitioner contended. The Supreme Court pointed out that the 36 factories returned by the Cashew Development Corporation and the 10 factories run by the Capex were in the same league. The government’s argument based on economic loss and job cuts were equally applicable to both cases. The 36 factories have been running for 20 years after they were returned to owners, the court said. The court held as unconstitutional section 6 of the Kerala Cashew Factories (Amendment) Act.