Belated filing of statutory exemption form accepted where the claim was already on record and delay was explained.

Where an exemption claim was already on record, the later production of the supporting statutory form could not be refused merely on procedural grounds when sufficient cause explained the delay. The High Court held that the assessee should not lose substantive tax relief because Form III-Ga(4) was produced after the Tribunal's order, particularly where earlier decisions permitted belated filing of supporting forms in aid of an existing claim. The Tribunal's refusal to grant time was set aside and the matter was remanded for fresh consideration of the exemption claim on the basis of the produced form.

---

---

Issues: Whether the assessee could be permitted to produce form III-Ga(4) at a subsequent stage and whether the Tribunal was justified in refusing time for its filing.

Analysis: The revision arose from disallowance of tax exemption for want of form III-Ga(4). The claimed forms had not been produced before the Tribunal, but the record showed that they were later obtained and the assessee had already made the claim. In such circumstances, and following the approach adopted in earlier decisions permitting filing of supporting forms at a later stage where the claim was already on record, the refusal to grant time for production of the forms was not justified. The assessee should not be denied the substantive benefit merely because the requisite forms were produced after the Tribunal's order, when the delay was explained and the claim was otherwise supported.

Conclusion: The question was answered in favour of the assessee. The Tribunal's order was set aside and the matter was sent back for consideration of the produced form III-Ga(4).

Final Conclusion: The assessee obtained a remand for fresh consideration of the exemption claim on the basis of the subsequently produced declaration forms.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statutory form supporting an already asserted exemption claim is produced later for sufficient cause, the adjudicating authority may be required to accept it and decide the claim on merits rather than rejecting it on a purely procedural ground.

---