Revised return under the Income-tax Act can cure omission of auditor's report and preserve exemption claim.

A return filed under section 139(4A) is treated as a return furnished under section 139(1) for the purpose of section 139(5), so a revised return may be filed where the original return omitted required particulars. The absence of the auditor's report required by section 12A(b) was a curable omission in the original return, and the defect could be corrected by a revised return before assessment. On that basis, the assessee was entitled to revise the return and continue to claim exemption under section 11(1)(a), with no contravention of section 12A(b) in the stated circumstances.

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Issues: Whether an assessee who had filed a return under section 139(4A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, but had not enclosed the auditor's report required by section 12A(b), could furnish a revised return under section 139(5) and still claim exemption under section 11(1)(a).

Analysis: A revised return is permissible only where the original return was furnished under section 139(1) or section 139(2) and the assessee discovers an omission or a wrong statement. A return under section 139(4A) is statutorily treated as if it were a return required to be furnished under section 139(1), so the first condition for section 139(5) was satisfied. The requirement of filing the return in the prescribed form with prescribed particulars also meant that the absence of the auditor's report constituted a clear omission in the original return. That omission was capable of being rectified by a revised return before assessment.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to file a revised return, and there was no contravention of section 12A(b) in the circumstances.

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