9. Reception in India of deposits transferred from Pakistan.-

(1) It shall be lawful for the Custodian to receive and hold in his custody any deposit transferred by any such officer or authority in Pakistan as may be specified by the Central Government by general or special order as being a deposit belonging to any displaced person in India.

(2) On receipt of any such deposit as is referred to in sub-section (1), the Custodian shall cause notice thereof to be given in such manner as may be prescribed to all persons who may in his opinion, be interested in the deposit, and after giving a reasonable opportunity to such persons to be heard in the matter and after inspecting any such record relating to the deposit as may be transferred from Pakistan, dispose of the deposit in the manner following, that is to say-

(a) if there is only one claimant entitled to the deposit or if all the claimants, where there are more than one, appear before the Custodian and there is no dispute as to the distribution of the deposit, pay the deposit to that claimant or, as the case may be, distribute the deposit among the claimants in the manner agreed to by them;

(b) if all the claimants do not appear before the Custodian or if all such claimants appear but do not agree as to the person or persons entitled to the deposit or to the manner or of its distribution among them, the Custodian shall forward the deposit and the records relating thereto to the principal civil court of original jurisdiction within whose jurisdiction all, or the largest number of claimants, reside, or where the claimants residing within the jurisdiction of two or more courts are equal in number, to the court which, in the opinion of the Custodian, would best serve the convenience of the claimants.

(3) The court to which a deposit and any record relating thereto are forwarded under sub-section (2) shall proceed to deal with the matter as if the deposit had been made in compliance with an order made by it in a proceeding before it and, after making such further inquiry into the matter as it thinks fit, award the deposit to or distribute it among the person or persons who in its opinion is or are entitled thereto.

(4) An appeal shall lie from every order passed by any court under sub-section (3) to the court authorised to hear appeals from the decisions of such court if the amount or value of the subject matter of the claim made in the appeal exceeds two thousands rupees.

(5) The disposal of any deposit in accordance with the provisions of this section shall discharge the Custodian from any liability to any person in respect of the deposit.