30. Decision by courts on certain claims in certain circumstances.
- At any time after the commencement of this Act [or, in the case of the extended territories, after the commencement of the Amending Act, as the case may be,] [Inserted by Punjab Act No. 1 of 1959, Section 17.] in any suit or proceeding instituted in any civil or revenue court -(i)if any claim is made that any right, title or interest in any property belongs to a Notified Sikh Gurdwara and the court finds that such claim might have been made in a list forwarded to the [State] [Substituted for the word [Provincial] by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] Government under the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 3 or of sub-section (2) of Section 7 and that no such claim was duly made within time, the court shall decide such claim against the gurdwara on behalf of which the claim is made :Provided that the court need not so decide, if it is satisfied that the failure to make the claim was owing to the fact that no person who forwarded or joined in forwarding a list had knowledge of the existence of the right, title or interest that might have been so claimed and that no such person should, by the exercise of reasonable diligence, have come to know of the existence of such right, title or interest;(ii)if any right is claimed for any person in connection with a Notified Sikh Gurdwara and the court finds that the right might have been made the subject of a claim in a petition forwarded to the [State] [Substituted for the word [Provincial] by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] Government under the provisions of sections 5, 6, 10 or 11 or presented to a tribunal under the provisions of sections 19, 20, 21 or 27 and that no such claim was duly made within time, the court shall decide the claim against the person claiming the right :Provided that in the case of a claim that might have been made under the provisions of section 5 or section 10 the court need not so decide if it is satisfied that the failure to make the claim was owing to the fact that the person who might have made the claim either had no knowledge of the existence of the right, title or interest that he might have so claimed or had no knowledge of the fact that the right, title or interest had been included in a list published under the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 3 or of sub-section (3) of section 7 and could not, by the exercise of reasonable diligence, have come to know of the existence of such right, title or interest, or of the fact that such right, title or interest, was so included :Provided further that in the case of a claim by a past or present office-holder or any person deriving title subsequent to the first day of January, 1920 from such office-holder minority or insanity shall not, by itself, be deemed a valid reason for not having such knowledge.
