STPI registration suffices for section 10B deduction, with no separate Board approval required under the Tribunal's view.

STPI registration was treated as sufficient for eligibility to deduction under section 10B of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and separate prior approval by the Board of Approvals was held not essential on the Tribunal's consistent coordinate bench view. The Tribunal followed earlier decisions in similar cases and accepted that an assessee otherwise registered with STPI could claim the deduction without additional ratification. The CIT(A)'s allowance of the claim was found consistent with that prevailing view, and the Revenue's challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether an assessee registered with the Software Technology Parks of India was entitled to deduction under section 10B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 without prior ratification or approval by the Board of Approvals.

Analysis: The Tribunal followed its earlier coordinate bench decisions holding that STPI registration was sufficient for eligibility to deduction under section 10B. It accepted the view that the requirement of separate Board approval was not essential where the assessee was otherwise registered with STPI and the issue had already been consistently decided in favour of assessees in similar cases. On that basis, the order of the CIT(A) allowing the claim was found to be in accordance with the prevailing Tribunal view.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to deduction under section 10B of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the Revenue's challenge failed.

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