Section 80IB deduction upheld where Form 10CCB filing was cured at appeal and separate SSI certificate was unnecessary.

The audit report in Form 10CCB for deduction under section 80IB was treated as a procedural requirement, so filing it during reassessment and again before the appellate authority was sufficient compliance and did not defeat the claim. Registration as a small-scale industrial undertaking was not a separate mandatory precondition; the relevant requirement was satisfaction of the statutory test under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, and a later registration certificate supported that position. The deduction under section 80IB was therefore upheld.

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Issues: (i) Whether the audit report in Form 10CCB for deduction under section 80IB could validly be filed at the appellate stage and treated as sufficient compliance. (ii) Whether registration as a small-scale industrial undertaking was a mandatory precondition for deduction under section 80IB.

Issue (i): Whether the audit report in Form 10CCB for deduction under section 80IB could validly be filed at the appellate stage and treated as sufficient compliance.

Analysis: The filing of the audit report was treated as a procedural and directory requirement. Since the assessee had filed the report during reassessment and again before the appellate authority, the omission could not by itself defeat the deduction claim. The requirement stood satisfied when the report was placed on record before the appellate authority, and the assessment could not ignore that compliance.

Conclusion: The issue was answered in favour of the assessee.

Issue (ii): Whether registration as a small-scale industrial undertaking was a mandatory precondition for deduction under section 80IB.

Analysis: Section 80IB(14)(g) defines a small-scale industrial undertaking by reference to section 11B of the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951. The governing requirement was compliance with the statutory test under that Act, not the production of a separate certificate from the competent authority. The subsequent filing of the registration certificate further supported the claim, and no adverse inference could be drawn merely for want of earlier filing.

Conclusion: The issue was answered in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The deduction under section 80IB was upheld, and the Revenue's challenge failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory audit report required for claiming deduction may be treated as a procedural compliance capable of being cured at the appellate stage, and a separate certificate of SSI registration is not required where the statute only incorporates the substantive test of being a small-scale industrial undertaking under the governing industrial law.

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