250 SECRETARIAL PRACTICE
admissible to proof [s. 261]. (See Bankruptcy Act, 1914, s. 30,
as to the debts which are provable in bankruptcy and therefore
in the winding up of an insolvent company.) It should be
oorne in mind that only debts which are legally recoverable
can be provided for in a winding up, and if a liquidator admits
and pays a claim, which is merely a moral obligation, however
strong, on the company, he commits a misfeasance and may
be compelled to make good the amount so paid, at any rate so
far as the true creditors have been damaged thereby [Home &
Colonial Insurance Co. (1930), 1 Ch. 102].

Rule go of the Rules of 1929 provides for the proof of debts
oy affidavit, and by Rule 93 the affidavit is required to state
whether the creditor is or is not a secured creditor. Most of
the Rules from go to 108 contain further regulations as to the
proof of debts which are applicable to voluntary winding up.
When the proofs have all been lodged, the liquidator must
examine them, and in writing admit or reject each, either in
whole or in part, or he may require further evidence in sup-
port of it. If he rejects a proof he must notify to the creditor
in writing the grounds of his rejection [Rule 105]. Any
creditor dissatisfied with the decision of the liquidator may
apply to the Court within twenty-one days, and the Court
may reverse or vary the decision [Rule 106]. Should the
liquidator himself, after admitting a proof, consider that
it has been improperly admitted, he may apply to the Court,
after notice to the creditor, to expunge the proof or reduce
its amount [Rule 107]. A similar application may be made
by any creditor or contributory [Rule 108].

In due course the liquidator will have a complete list of
claims, of which some may be disputed. Disputed claims
may be dealt with by the liquidator in various ways. He
may compromise any claim with the sanction required by
s. 248 (1), or he may apply to the Court, under s. 252, to
adjudicate upon any disputed claim. Or he may leave the
creditor to apply to the Court to adjudicate, or to bring an
action to enforce the claim. The position of the liquidator
in the matter of applying for a stay of any such action has
already been dealt with above (see p. 238). In exceptional
cases, where the disputed claims are likely to be numerous, the
method of procedure is open to the liquidator of applying
to the Court, under s. 252, for an order for an inquiry as to
who are the creditors of the company. The effect of such
an order is that all claims are formally proved in chambers,
and disputed claims adjudicated upon where necessary by the
Court. If the liquidator is in doubt as to whether he has a
complete list of claims and desires to make a distribution. he