Section 80IB deduction cannot be denied solely for absence of final SSI registration where industrial law status is otherwise satisfied.

Deduction under Section 80IB could not be denied merely because the assessee held only a provisional SSI certificate and not final registration. The governing test was whether the undertaking was regarded as a small-scale industrial undertaking under section 11B of the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, not whether formal SSI registration had been completed. Following its earlier ruling on identical facts, the Tribunal accepted the deduction claim and set aside the disallowance based solely on the registration objection.

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Issues: Whether deduction under Section 80IB of the Income-tax Act could be denied merely because the assessee did not possess final SSI registration and had only a provisional certificate.

Analysis: The appeal concerned disallowance of deduction only on the ground that the assessee was not registered as an SSI unit. The governing provision defined a small-scale industrial undertaking by reference to whether it was regarded as such under section 11B of the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, and not by the requirement of formal registration. The Tribunal also followed its own earlier decision in the assessee's case on identical facts, where the same objection had been rejected.

Conclusion: Deduction under Section 80IB could not be refused on the sole ground of absence of final SSI registration, and the claim was allowed.

Final Conclusion: The assessee's entitlement to the deduction was accepted, and the assessment disallowance on the registration objection was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Formal SSI registration is not a precondition for deduction under Section 80IB where the undertaking is otherwise regarded as a small-scale industrial undertaking under the relevant industrial law.

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