Proof of Debts.

45. (1) Every creditor shall prove his debt as soon as may be after the making of a receiving order or after the date of an authorized assignment.

(2) A debt may be proved by delivering or sending through the post in a prepaid and registered letter to the trustee, a statutory dclaration verifying the debt.

(3) The statutory declaration may be made by the creditor himself or by some person authorized by or on behalf of the creditor. If made by a person so authorized, it shall state his authority and means of knowledge.

(4) The statutory declaration shall contain or refer to a statement of account showing the particulars of the debt, and shall specify the vouchers, if any, by which the same can be substantiated. The trustee may at any time call for the production of the vouchers.

(5) The statutory declaration shall state whether the creditor is or is not a secured creditor.

(6) Every creditor who has lodged a proof shall be entitled to see and examine the proofs of other creditors before the first meeting, and at all reasonable times.

Proof by Secured Creditors.

46. (1) If a secured creditor realizes his security, he may prove for the balance due to him, after deducting the net amount realized. (Eng. Sch. 2 No. 10.)

(2) If a secured creditor surrenders his security to the trustee for the general benefit of the creditors, he may prove for his whole debt. (Eng. Sch. 2 No. 11.)

(3) If a secured creditor does not either realize or surrender his security, he shall within thirty days of the date of the receiving order, or of the making of the authorized assignment, or within such further time as may be allowed by the inspectors, or in case they shall refuse, then within such further time as may be allowed by the court, file with the trustee a statutory declaration stating therein full particulars of his security or securities, the date when each security was given, and the value at which he assesses each thereof. He shall be entitled to receive a dividend only in respect of the balance due to him after deducting the value so assessed.

(4) Where a security is so valued the trustee may at any time redeem it on payment to the creditor of the assessed value.

(5) If the trustee is dissatisfied with the value at which a security is assessed, he may require that the property comprised in any security so valued be offered for sale at such times and on such terms and conditions as may be agreed on between the creditor and the trustee, or as, in default of such agreement, the court may direct. If the sale be by public auction the creditor, or the trustee on behalf of the estate, may bid or purchase.

(6) Notwithstanding subsections four and five of this section the creditor may at any time, by notice in writing, require the trustee to elect whether he will or will not exercise his power of redeeming the security or requiring it to be realized, and if the trustee does not, within one month after receiving the notice or such further time or times as the court may allow, signify in writing to the creditor his election to exercise the power, he shall not be entitled to exercise it; and the equity of redemption, or any other interest in the property comprised in the security which is vested in the trustee, shall vest in the creditor, and the amount of his debt shall be reduced by the amount at which the security has been valued.

(7) Where a security has been realized as provided by this section, the net amount realized shall be paid to the secured creditor and shall be substituted for the amount at which he valued such security in his claim and shall be treated in all respects as an amended valuation by the secured creditor. The costs and expenses of any such sale shall be in the discretion of the court.

(8) If the trustee has not elected to acquire the security as hereinbefore provided, a creditor may at any time within two months after filing his claim amend the valuation and proof on showing to the satisfaction of the trustee, or the court, that the valuation and proof were made bona fide on a mistaken estimate, or that the security has diminished or increased in value since its previous valuation; but every such amendment shall be made at the cost of the creditor, and upon such terms as the court shall order, unless the trustee shall allow the amendment without application to the court.

(9) Where a valuation has been amended in accordance with the foregoing subsection, the creditor shall forthwith repay any surplus dividend which he may have received in excess of that to which he would have been entitled on the amended valuation, or, as the case may be, shall be entitled to be paid out of any money, for the time being available for dividend, any dividend or share of dividend which he may have failed to receive by reason of the inaccuracy of the original valuation, before that money is made applicable to the payment of any future dividend, but he shall not be entitled to disturb the distribution of any dividend declared before the date of the amendment.

(10) If a secured creditor does not comply with the foregoing subsections he shall be excluded from all share in any dividend.

(11) Subject to the provisions of subsections five and six of this section, a creditor shall in no case receive more than one hundred cents in the dollar and interest as provided by this Act.

Proof in Respect of Distinct Contracts.

47. If a debtor was, at the date of the receiving order or authorized assignment, liable in respect of distinct contracts as a member of two or more distinct firms, or as a sole contractor, and also as member of a firm, the circumstance that the firms are in whole or in part composed of the same individuals, or that the sole contractor is also one of the joint contractors, shall not prevent proof in respect of the contracts, against the properties respectively liable on the contracts.