38. Recourse to ordinary courts in cases where action has not been taken under Part I with a view to application of provisions of Part III to gurdwara.
(1)Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other Act or enactment in force, any two or more persons having interest in any gurdwara in respect of which no notification declaring the gurdwara to be a Sikh Gurdwara has been published under the provisions of this Act may, after the expiry of one year from the commencement of this Act, [or, in the case of the extended territories, from the commencement of the Amending Act, as the case may be] [Inserted by Punjab Act 1 of 1959, Section 18.] or of such further period as the [State] [Substituted for the word [Provincial] by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] Government may have fixed under the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 7, and after having obtained the consent of the Deputy Commissioner of the district in which such gurdwara is situated institute a suit, whether contentious or not, in the principal court of original jurisdiction or in any other court empowered in that behalf by the [State] Government within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the gurdwara is situated praying for any of the reliefs specified in section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908(5 of 1908), and may in such suit pray that the provisions of Part III may be applied to such gurdwara.(2)The court in which a suit is instituted under the provisions of sub-section (1) shall decide whether the gurdwara is or is not a gurdwara as described in sub-section (2) of Section 16, and if the court decides that it is such a gurdwara and is also of opinion that, having regard to all the circumstances, the gurdwara is one to the management of which the provisions of Part III should be applied, the court shall by public advertisement and in such other manner as it may in each case direct, call upon any person having interest in the gurdwara to appear and show cause why the provisions of Part III should not be so applied, and shall in its order fix a date not less than one month from the date of the order on which any person appearing shall be heard.(3)Upon the date fixed under the provisions of sub-section (2) or on any subsequent date to which the hearing may be adjourned, the court shall proceed to hear the person or persons, if any, appearing and if the court is satisfied that the provisions of Part III can be applied to the management of the gurdwara without prejudice to any existing order or decree relating to the gurdwara and conferring on any person or declaring any person to be entitled to any right, in respect of the administration or management thereof, the court shall pass a decree that the said provisions shall apply to the management of the gurdwara.(4)Upon such decree being passed and subject to any order that may be passed on appeal against or in revision of the decree the provisions of Part III shall apply to such gurdwara as if it had been declared by notification under the provisions of this Act to be a Sikh Gurdwara.(5)When under the provisions of sub-section (3) the provisions of Part III have by decree been applied to the management of a gurdwara any hereditary office-holder of such gurdwara who within twelve months after the date of the decree has resigned office or been removed from office otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of section 134 or under the provisions of section 142 or a presumptive successor of such office-holder, may within ninety days from the date of the resignation or removal, as the case may be of such office-holder, present a petition to the Court which passed the decree claiming to be awarded compensation on the ground that he has suffered or will suffer pecuniary loss owing to a change in the management of such gurdwara and the court may, notwithstanding the fact that such office-holder has voluntarily resigned, pass a decree awarding him compensation as if such office-holder had been unlawfully removed from his office.(6)The provisions of sections 22, 23, 24 and 25 shall so far as may be, apply to proceedings under the provisions of sub-section (5) and to proceedings arising therefrom, as if the court was a tribunal.
