Return-filing deadline bars a fresh deduction claim in a revised return under section 139(5).

A deduction under section 80P(2)(a)(i) was unavailable where the claim was first raised in a revised return filed after the statutory due date. The return-filing requirement under section 80AC, read with section 139(1), was treated as a condition precedent for the deduction, and the assessee did not substantiate any entitlement to an extended due date based on audit requirements. Section 139(5) was held to permit correction of omissions or statements, but not the introduction of a fresh deduction claim absent from the original return. Rectification was also not shown to involve any apparent mistake.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to deduction under section 80P(2)(a)(i) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, when the claim was first made in the revised return filed after the due date and the assessee asserted entitlement to the extended due date on the ground of audit requirements.

Analysis: The revised return was filed after the statutory due date and the assessee had not claimed the deduction in the original return. The assessee also failed to substantiate that its books were audited in a manner attracting the extended due date claimed by it. The statutory bar under section 80AC, read with section 139(1), required filing of the return within the prescribed time as a condition for availing the deduction. A revised return under section 139(5) could cure omission or wrong statement, but it could not be used to make a fresh claim for exemption or deduction not made in the original return. The rejection of rectification was therefore not shown to involve any apparent mistake.

Conclusion: The deduction under section 80P was not allowable, and the assessee's appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A deduction that is subject to filing of the return within the due date cannot be claimed for the first time in a revised return filed after that date, and section 139(5) does not permit a fresh claim that was absent from the original return.

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