Facts
The case concerns the bankruptcy of the public limited company X, in which the special administration and the creditors' committee have entrusted administrators A and B with the sale or leasing of the bankrupt's assets. As a bulk sale was preferred, two companies (Y SA and Z SpA) expressed interest in the purchase. Z SpA claimed the "technological assets" of the bankrupt, subsequently offering CHF 4,620,500 for the purchase of the bankruptcy estate.
The creditors' committee accepted Z SpA's subsidiary request to proceed with a written auction to the highest bidder with Y SA. On October 31, 1985, Z SpA filed a complaint with the supervisory authority, requesting the allocation of the bankruptcy estate according to its offer of September 27 and the cancellation of the auction with Y SA.
By decree of December 6, 1985, the supervisory authority rejected Z SpA's request for adjudication, considering the exclusion of the claimed object from the auction catalogue to be sufficient, but dismissed administrators A and B from the bankruptcy ex officio, considering that they had acted in a "disconcerting, frivolous and suspected of partiality" manner.
Considerations
The Federal Court considers the public law appeal filed by administrators A and B to be admissible, as their dismissal from the official position of special bankruptcy administrators has harmed their private sphere, not only their public function.
On the merits, the Court considers that the facts established by the supervisory authority do not justify the sanction of dismissal,…