Chapter VI-A deduction claim must be made in the return filed on time; alternative capital gains plea rejected.

A deduction under Chapter VI-A cannot be entertained unless the claim is made in the return filed within the time prescribed under section 139(1), and section 80A(5) bars a fresh claim not so made even in appellate proceedings. On that basis, the Tribunal rejected the section 80IB(10) deduction. It also rejected the alternative plea to assess the receipt as capital gains because that stand conflicted with the assessee's own case that the income arose from development activity and was business income.

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Issues: Whether deduction under section 80IB(10) could be allowed when it was not claimed in the return of income filed within the due date under section 139(1), and whether the receipt could alternatively be assessed as capital gains.

Analysis: Section 80A(5), read with section 139(1), makes a claim for deduction under Chapter VI-A a mandatory condition to be satisfied in the return of income filed within the prescribed due date. The Tribunal held that the assessee had not made the claim in the return in the manner required by law, and therefore the deduction could not be entertained even in appellate proceedings. The Tribunal also held that the alternative plea that the amount should be assessed as capital gains was inconsistent with the assessee's own stand that the income arose from development activity and was business income.

Conclusion: The claim for deduction under section 80IB(10) was rejected, and the alternative claim for assessment under the head capital gains was also rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: A deduction under Chapter VI-A cannot be allowed unless the claim is made in the return of income filed within the time prescribed under section 139(1), and a fresh claim not so made is barred by section 80A(5).

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