Conditions on which creditor may petitioConditions on which creditor may petition.

### Conditions on which creditor may petition. E.B.A., s. 4. N.S.W., s. 6. Vic., s. 49. S.A., ss. 68, 71. W.A., s. 6. Q., ss. 45–47. Tas., s. 5. 55.—(1.) A creditor shall not be entitled to present a petition against a debtor unless— (a) the debt owing by the debtor to him, or, if two or more creditors join in the petition, the aggregate of the debts owing to the several petitioning creditors amounts to Fifty pounds; and (b) the debt is a liquidated sum, payable either immediately or at some certain future time; and (c) the act of bankruptcy on which the petition is grounded has occurred within six months before the presentation of the petition; and (d) the debtor is domiciled in Australia, or, within a year before the date of the presentation of the petition, has ordinarily resided or had a dwelling-house or place of business in Australia, or has carried on business in Australia, personally or by means of an agent or manager, or is or within the said period has been a member of a firm or partnership which has carried on business in Australia by means of a partner or partners, or an agent or manager, E.B.A., s. 4. Cf. s. 187. and, where a deed of arrangement or a deed of assignment has been executed, a creditor shall not be entitled to present a bankruptcy petition founded on the execution of the deed, or on any other act committed by the debtor in the course or for the purpose of the proceedings preliminary to the execution of the deed, in cases where he is prohibited from so doing by the provisions of Part XI. or Part XII. of this Act. N.S.W. s. 7. (2.) If the petitioning creditor is a secured creditor, he must, in his petition, (a) state that he is willing to give up his security for the benefit of the creditors in the event of a sequestration order being made against the debtor; or (b) give an estimate of the value of his security, in which case he may be admitted as a petitioning creditor to the extent of the balance of the debt due to him, after deducting the value so estimated, in the same manner as if he were an unsecured creditor. (3.) If the petitioning creditor is a secured creditor he shall, upon application being made by the trustee or official receiver within the prescribed time after the making of a sequestration order, and upon payment of the estimated value stated in his petition, give up his security to the trustee or official receiver for the benefit of the creditors.