(ii) if the person from whom it was seized may not lawfully possess the article, be delivered to the person who may lawfully possess it; or (iii) if no person may lawfully possess the article or if the police officer concerned does not know of any person who may lawfully possess the article, be forfeited to the State. (2) If the person who may lawfully possess the article in question is known and has not a pplied for the return or delivery of the article, notice shall be sent by registered post to his la st known address that he may take possession of the article, and if such person fails to take possession of the article within three months from the date of such notice being sent, the article shall be forfeited to the State. (3) Where an article has been forfeited to the State in terms of paragraph (iii) of subsection (1) or subsection (2), a magistrate within whose area of jurisdiction the article was, in terms of paragraph (c) of section fifty-eight, retained in police custody may at any time within a period of three years from the date of the original seizure by a police officer or delivery to a police officer, as the case may be, of the article, upon the application of any person who claims that any right referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) is vested in him, inquire into and determine such right and, if the magistrate finds that the article— (a) is the property of the applicant, he shall— (i) set aside the forfeiture and direct that the article be returned to such person; or (ii) if the State has disposed of the article, direct that the applicant be paid adequate compensation by the State; (b) was sold to the accused in pursuance of a contract under which he becomes the owner of the article upon payment of a stipulated price, whether by instalments or otherwise, and under which the seller becomes entitled to the return of the article upon default of payment of the stipulated price or any part thereof, he shall— (i) direct that the article be sold by public auction and that the said seller be paid out of the proceeds of the sale an amount equal to the value of his rights under the contract to the article, but not exceeding the proceeds of the sale; or (ii) if the State has disposed of the article, direct that the said seller be paid adequate compensation by the State. (4) If a determination by a magistrate of an application in terms of subsection (3) is adverse to the applicant, he may appeal therefrom as if it were a conviction by the court making the determination. (5) When determining any rights in terms of subsection (3), the magistrate may hear such evidence, whether by affidavit or orally, as he may think fit. 60 Article to be transferred to court for purposes of trial (1) If criminal proceedings are instituted in connection with any article referred to in paragraph (c) of section fifty-eight and the article is required at a trial or for the purposes of evidence or of any order of court, the police officer concerned shall, subject to subsection (2), deliver the article to the registrar or clerk of the court where such criminal proceedings are instituted. [Subsection amended by section 28 of Act 9 of 2006.] (2) If it is, by reason of the nature, bulk or value of the article in question, impracticable or undesirable that the article be delivered to the registrar or clerk of the court in terms of subsection (1), the registrar or clerk, as the case may be, may require the police officer concerned to retain the article in police custody or in such other custody as may be determined in terms of paragraph (c) of section fifty-eight. (3) The registrar or clerk, as the case may be, of the court shall place any article received in terms of subsection (1) in safe custody, which may include the deposit of money in an official banking account if such money is not required at the trial for the purposes of evidence. [Subsection amended by section 28 of Act 9 of 2006.] (4) Where the trial in question is to be conducted in a court other than the court to which the article was delivered in terms of subsection (1), the registrar or clerk, as the case may be, of the court shall— (a) transfer any article received in terms of that subsection, other than money deposited in a banking account in terms of subsection (3), to the registrar or clerk, as the case may be, of the court in which the trial is to be conducted, and that registrar or clerk shall place such article in safe custody; or (b) in the case of any article retained in police custody or in some other custody in terms of subsection (2) or any money deposited in a banking account in terms of subsection (3), advise the registrar or clerk of the court in which the trial is to be conducted accordingly. 61 Disposal of article after commencement of criminal proceedings (1) Subject to this Act and except as otherwise provided in any other enactment under which any matter shall or may be forfeited, the judge or magistrate presiding at criminal proceedings may, at the conclusion of the proceedings, unless the article is further required as an exhibit at a trial, make an order that any article referred to in section sixty or produced in evidence—