(1)The Board shall establish and maintain a fund to be called the General Board Fund, and there shall be placed to the credit thereof the following sums namely :-(i)all the annual contributions paid to the Board under the provisions of section 107;(ii)all the fees for copies of accounts and of entries in registers levied by the Board under the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 114 and sub-section (8) of Section 137.(2)No sums other than those specified in sub-section (1) shall be placed to the credit of the General Board Fund.(3)[ The General Board Fund shall be applied solely to the payment of expenses lawfully incurred by the Board in the exercise of its powers under the provisions of this Act, towards the discharge of obligations legally incurred and towards the maintenance, protection and support of such historical gurdwaras which in the opinion of the Board cannot be maintained, protected or provided for otherwise, provided that if after paying such expenses and discharging such obligations and affording such protection any surplus sum remains, such surplus sum, [may be spent by the Board on any religious or charitable purposes or any other purpose which promotes social welfare] [Substituted for the old section by Punjab Act 11 of 1944, Section 36.] and on such non-political purposes as are connected with the general uplift and welfare of the Panth as the Board may deem fit.] [Added by Punjab Act 11 of 1944, Section 33.](4)No part of the General Board Fund shall be expended upon the administration of any trust fund described in section 111 or section 112, or upon the object of any such trust fund except in so far as such expenditure may be permissible under the provisions of sub-section (3).[108-A. Research fund. - Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act there shall be established a research fund of the Board to which the Board shall contribute at least twenty thousand rupees per annum from the fund of the Board or from the income of the Gurdwara managed by the Board under section 85 for the purpose of carrying out research in Sikh history and publication of books and journals in connection therewith. Any income realized from the sale of such publications or any contributions made by the public in this behalf shall also be credited to the research fund. This fund shall be administered by a Committee consisting of five persons appointed by the Board out of its members or otherwise. The Board may frame rules for the administration of this fund.
