Statute Law Repeals - Law Commission - Ministry of Justice

Assam Railways and Trading Company
3.8 The Assam Railways and Trading Company Limited was incorporated in 1881,
and originated from an agreement between the Secretary of State for India and
Shaw, Finlayson and Company to build a railway line between Debrugarh (now
Dibrugarh) and Sadiya in north-eastern Assam. In the event, it constructed a
main line from Debrugarh to the River Dehring, and a branch line from Makum
Junction to Talup. The company also owned other valuable businesses, including
colliery workings.
3.9 In 1880 the company entered into an agreement with the Secretary of State for
India whereby he was given first refusal (once every five years) to purchase the
railway undertaking. By 1897 the directors anticipated that the Secretary of State
might wish to exercise his purchase right, but also realised that the company
required specific legislative power to redeem its shares or to create a scheme for
capital restructuring.
3.10 The Assam Railways and Trading Company’s Act 1897 9 was passed to allow the
company to deem certain classes of share fully paid up, to arrange an orderly
distribution of proceeds in the event that the government exercised its purchase
option, and to reduce the company’s capital when shares were paid off.
3.11 In 1901 the Secretary of State for India undertook not to exercise his right to
purchase until 1921 at the earliest. 10
3.12 By 1910 the company needed to redistribute its capital holding across different
categories of share. This second restructuring was linked to the first under the
1897 Act, but required additional legislative authority. The Assam Railways and
Trading Company’s Act 1910 11 permitted the company (amongst other things) to
increase its nominal share capital, spread across four categories of share, and to
convert certain shares into stockholdings. The aim was to complete the
company’s financial rearrangement.
3.13 The rail-based assets of the company were acquired by the government in 1945.
The company no longer has rail operating interests in the Indian subcontinent,
although it still exists as a non-trading company, owned by the Assam Company
Limited (part of the Duncan Macneill Group). On that basis, neither of the Acts
has practical utility, and both may be repealed.
9 60 & 61 Vict. c.xvii (1897).
10 If the option to purchase was not exercised in 1921 the subsequent intervals for exercise
were extended to 10 rather than 5 years.
11 10 Edw. 7 & 1 Geo.5 c.xiv (1910).
117