Appointment of trustee

(1) Where a debtor is adjudged bankrupt or the creditors have resolved that he be adjudged bankrupt, the creditors may, by ordinary resolution, appoint some fit person, whether a creditor or not, to fill the office of trustee of the property of the bankrupt, or they may resolve to leave his appointment to the committee of inspection mentioned in section 20 of this Act. (2) A person shall be deemed not fit to act as trustee of the property of a bankrupt where he has been previously removed from the office of trustee of a bankrupt’s property for misconduct or neglect of duty. (3) The person so appointed shall give security in a manner prescribed to the satisfaction of the court, and the court, if satisfied with the security, shall certify that his appointment has been duly made unless it is of the opinion that the appointment has not been made in good faith by a majority in value of the creditors voting, or that the person appointed is not fit to act as trustee, or that his connection with or relation to the bankrupt or his estate or any particular creditor makes it difficult for him to act with impartiality in the interests of the creditors generally. (4) The appointment of a trustee shall take effect as from the date of the certificate. (5) The Official Receiver shall not, except as by this Act provided, be a trustee of the bankrupt’s property. (6) Where a trustee is not appointed by the creditors within four weeks from the date of the adjudication, or in the event of negotiations for a composition or scheme being pending at the expiration of those four weeks, then within seven days from the close of those negotiations by the refusal of the creditors to accept or of the court to approve, the composition or scheme, 24 the Official Receiver shall report the matter to the court, and the court shall thereupon appoint some fit person to be trustee of the bankrupt’s property and shall certify the appointment. (7) The creditors or the committee of inspection (if so authorized by resolution of the creditors) may, at any subsequent time, if they think fit, appoint a trustee, and on the appointment being made and certified, the person appointed shall become trustee in the place of the person appointed by (8) When a debtor is adjudged bankrupt after the first meeting of creditors has been held, and a trustee has not been appointed prior to the adjudication, the Official Receiver shall forthwith summon a meeting of creditors for the purpose of appointing a trustee.