Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 76.djvu/621

 76 STAT. ]

PUBLIC LAW 87-681-SEPT. 25, 1962

shall extend to and be valid when served in any judicial district. The Supreme Court of the United States shall promulgate rules relating to the service of process outside of the district in which the proceeding is pending, and any other rules which it may deem advisable in order to aid district courts and courts of appeal in exercising the jurisdiction herein conferred upon them. The railroad corporation shall be referred to in the proceedings as a 'debtor'. Any railroad corporation "Debtor." the majority of the capital stock of which having power to vote for the election of directors is owned, either directly or indirectly through an intervening medium, by any railroad corporation filing a petition as a debtor may file, with the court in which the other debtor has filed such a petition, and in the same proceeding, a petition, a copy of which shall also be filed at the same time with the Commission, stating that it is insolvent or unable to meet its debts as they mature, and that it desires to effect a reorganization in connection with, or as a part of the plan of reorganization of the other debtor; and upon the filing of the petition, the judge shall enter an order either approving it as properly filed under this section, if satisfied that it complies with this section and has been filed in good faith, or dismissing it if not so satisfied, and thereupon the court, if it approves the petition, shall have the same jurisdiction with respect to such debtor, its property and its creditors and stockholders, as the court has with respect to the other debtor. Creditors of any railroad corporation, having claims aggregating not less than 5 per centum of all the indebtedness of the corporation as shown in the latest annual report which it has filed with the Commission at the time when the petition is filed, may, if the corporation has not filed a petition under this section, file with the court in which the corporation might file a petition under this section, a petition stating that the corporation is insolvent or unable to me^t its debts as they mature and that the creditors have claims aggregating not less than 5 per centuin of all such indebtedness of the corporation and propose that it shall effect a reorganization; copies of the petition shall be filed at the same time with the Commission and served upon the corporation. The corporation shall, within ten days after such service, answer the petition. If the answer admits the jurisdiction of the court and the material allegations of the petition, the judge shall enter an order approving the petition as properly filed if satisfied that it complies with this section and has been filed in good faith, or dismissing it, if not so satisfied. If the answer denies either the jurisdiction of the court or any material allegation of the petition, the judge shall summarily determine the issues presented by the pleadings without the intervention of a jury, and if he finds that the material allegations are sustained by the proofs and that the petition complies with this section and has been filed in good faith, the judge shall enter an order approving the petition; otherwise, he shall dismiss the petition. If such a petition is so approved, the proceedings thereon shall continue with like effect as if the railroad corporation had itself filed a petition under this section. If a petition is dismissed, neither the petition nor the answer of a debtor constitute an act of bankruptcy or an admission of insolvency or of inability to meet maturing obligations or be admissible in evidence, without the debtor's consent, in any proceedings then or thereafter pending or commenced under this Act or in any State or United States court. If, in any case in which the issues have not already been tried under the provisions of this subdivision, any of the creditors, prior to the hearing provided for in paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of this section, appear and controvert the facts alleged in the petition, the judge shall determine, as soon as may be, the issues presented by the pleadings, without the intervention of a jury, and, unless the material allegations of the petition are sustained by the proofs, shall dismiss the petition."

573

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