*The State of Maharashtra V. Prism Cement Ltd. (2025 SC)* 1. It is a cardinal principle of construction that every statute is prima facie prospective in nature unless it is expressly or by necessary implication made to have retrospective operations. Unless there are words in the statutes sufficient to show the intention of the legislature to affect existing rights, it is deemed to be prospective only. 2. ⁠ Every statute, it is said, which takes away or impairs vested rights acquired under existing laws, or creates a new obligation or imposes a new duty, or attaches a new disability in respect of transactions already past, must be presumed to be intended not to have a retrospective effect.