Section 71: Powers of court, Postal Services Act 2011

On hearing an application for a postal administration order, the court has the following powers—

it may make the order,

it may dismiss the application,

it may adjourn the hearing conditionally or unconditionally,

it may make an interim order,

it may treat the application as a winding-up petition and make any order the court could make under section 125 of the 1986 Act (power of court on hearing winding-up petition), and

it may make any other order which it thinks appropriate.

The court may make a postal administration order in relation to a company only if it is satisfied—

that the company is unable, or is likely to be unable, to pay its debts, or

that, on a petition by the Secretary of State under section 124A of the 1986 Act, it would be just and equitable (disregarding the objective of the postal administration) to wind up the company in the public interest.

The court may not make a postal administration order on the ground set out in subsection (2)(b) unless the Secretary of State has certified to the court that the case is one in which the Secretary of State considers (disregarding the objective of the postal administration) that it would be appropriate to petition under section 124A of the 1986 Act.

The court has no power to make a postal administration order in relation to a company which—

is in administration under Schedule B1 to the 1986 Act, or

has gone into liquidation (within the meaning of section 247(2) of the 1986 Act).

A postal administration order comes into force—

at the time appointed by the court, or

if no time is appointed by the court, when the order is made.

An interim order under subsection (1)(d) may, in particular—

restrict the exercise of a power of the company or of its directors, or

make provision conferring a discretion on a person qualified to act as an insolvency practitioner in relation to the company.

In the case of a foreign company, subsection (6)(a) is to be read as a reference to restricting the exercise of a power of the company or of its directors—

within the United Kingdom, or

in relation to the company's UK affairs, business or property.

For the purposes of this section a company is unable to pay its debts if—

it is a company which is deemed to be unable to pay its debts under section 123 of the 1986 Act, or

it is an unregistered company which is deemed, as a result of any of sections 222 to 224 of the 1986 Act, to be so unable for the purposes of section 221 of the 1986 Act, or which would be so deemed if it were an unregistered company for the purposes of those sections.

Section 71: Powers of court

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