Statute Law Repeals - Law Commission - Ministry of Justice

3.63 By an agreement made in December 1900 the railway company continued to
operate the railway undertaking until June 1925, at which point the Secretary of
State took it over. The transfer gave rise to a number of practical issues relating
to the purchase annuity. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway Annuities Act
1927 64 addressed these by amending the 1900 Act so that the annuity and the
sinking fund trustees could reclaim expenses incurred in administering the
sinking fund, 65 that the accumulated sinking fund be transferred in August 1948 to
the annuity trustees for apportionment and distribution, and that previous
deductions by the annuity trustees be legitimised. 66
3.64 The Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company survived until 1925 (at which point
the Indian government took over management of the railway network), and a note
in the Bank of England archives 67 indicates that the stock for the railway sinking
fund ceased to exist in 1964. On that basis, the various Acts described above
have now become spent.
Madras Railway Company
3.65 The Madras Railway Company was formed provisionally in July 1852 to acquire
lands in the “East Indies” and to construct and work a railway or railways in that
territory. 68 In December of that year the railway company contracted with the East
India Company to construct and maintain an “experimental line of railway” from
Madras to (or towards) the west coast of India. However, the company lacked
formal incorporation and the power (amongst other things) to enter into contracts
with the government of India for further railway and telegraph construction, and
provision for affording supervisory rights to the government was inadequate. The
Madras Railway Act 1853 69 authorised the forming of a body corporate to operate
the railway undertaking, transferred to it the property of the former company, and
provided the necessary power to enter into new contracts with the East India
Company. The East India Company was given powers to control the railway
operation (with a board member), to lease land to the railway company, and to
purchase or take a surrender of the undertaking “at any future period”. 70
64 17 & 18 Geo.5 c.v (1927) (“The 1927 Act”).
65 The 1927 Act, ss 2, 9 repealed sections 22, 23 and 36 of the 1900 Act (relating to aspects
of the sinking fund and the annuity trustees), and substituted a new section 22. The same
Act, by section 5, amended section 62 of the 1900 Act (relating to the formula for
reimbursement of the annuities management expenses).
66 It appears from a notice in the London Gazette relating to investments held by the Eastern
Bengal Railway Company (see earlier in this chapter), published on 2 November 1948 (at
p 5793), that the Great Indian Peninsula Railway Annuity Class B stock had already been
the subject of a first distribution of sinking fund assets.
67 Information kindly provided by the Treasury Legal Advisers.
68 This was the second incarnation of the Madras Railway Company. A previous venture of
the same name had been established in 1845 but, through lack of adequate groundwork
and research, had failed. The first company was dissolved in 1847.
69 16 & 17 Vict. c.xlvi (1853) (“The 1853 Act”).
70 The 1853 Act, s 7.
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