§ Amendment proposed: No. 118, in page 91, line 15, leave out 'them' and insert 'the debts'.—[Mr. Fletcher.]
§ Mr. BerminghamAmendment No. 121 would appear to make it impossible to present a bankruptcy petition as long as there is an outstanding application to set aside the statutory demand.
Should there not simply be a power to restrain the presentation of a petition when such an application is considered by the court to be genuine?
§ Mr. FletcherThese amendments provide an extra condition before a creditor may present his petition against the debtor so that as well as having to exceed the bankruptcy level the petition may be presented only when the debt or debts are a liquidated sum, the debtor has no reasonable prospect of being able to pay the debt or debts and the court is not dealing with an application to set aside the demand. The last condition will ensure that when a debtor has applied to have a demand set aside—perhaps because the amount of the debt outstanding is being disputed—the creditor may not present a bankruptcy petition.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Amendments made: No. 119, in page 91, line 18, leave out second 'and '.
§ No. 120, in page 91, line 19, leave out 'them' and insert 'the debts'.
§
No. 121, in page 91. line 21, at end insert
'and (d) there is no outstanding application to set aside a demand served for the purposes of subsection (3)(a) or (4) below in respect of the debt or any of the debts.'.—[Mr. Fletcher.]