Form 3-D tax benefit cannot be claimed after the statutory limitation period has expired, and belated relief was refused.

Benefit under Form 3-D could not be claimed because the form was not filed before the assessing authority and was produced only after the assessment order, beyond the prescribed two-year period from the end of the assessment year. The Court applied its earlier view and the Division Bench ruling that a statutory form supporting tax relief cannot be accepted after expiry of the limitation period. The Tribunal's rejection of the claim was therefore found to suffer from no infirmity, and the refusal to extend the tax benefit was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the benefit of Form 3-D could be granted when the form was furnished after the assessment order and beyond the prescribed period, and whether the Tribunal was in rejecting the revisionist's claim.

Analysis: The revision related to assessment year 1998-99. The form relied upon was not filed before the assessing authority and was produced only subsequently. The Tribunal found that the form pertained to a later assessment year and had been procured after the statutory period of two years from the end of the assessment year. The Court followed its earlier view and the Division Bench ruling that the benefit of Form 3-D cannot be allowed beyond the prescribed period, and held that the impugned order suffered from no infirmity.

Conclusion: The refusal to accept Form 3-D and to extend the tax benefit was upheld and the revision was dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory form claiming tax benefit cannot be accepted after expiry of the prescribed limitation period, and relief based on such form cannot be granted belatedly.

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