Procedural delay in Form 10B filing cannot defeat section 11 exemption when substantive conditions are met

A procedural delay in filing audit report Form 10B should not by itself defeat a claim for exemption under section 11 where the report was already available during processing and the substantive eligibility conditions were otherwise satisfied. The article notes that the delay was treated as condonable because it was procedural in nature, and the exemption could not be denied on a mere technicality. The benefit under section 11 remains available subject to due verification and satisfaction of the prescribed conditions.

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Issues: Whether delay in filing Form 10B could be condoned and the assessee be allowed exemption under section 11.

Analysis: The assessee filed Form 10B along with the return, and the form was available during processing under section 143(1). The delay was procedural in nature, while the substantive requirements for claiming exemption were otherwise shown to have been complied with. Following the consistent view taken in earlier coordinate bench decisions, the delay was liable to be condoned, and the claim could not be denied merely on technical grounds.

Conclusion: The delay in filing Form 10B was condoned, and the assessee was held entitled to the benefit under section 11 upon due verification and satisfaction of the prescribed conditions.

Ratio Decidendi: A procedural delay in filing the audit report in Form 10B, when the report is otherwise available during assessment processing and the substantive conditions for exemption are met, should not defeat a claim under section 11 on mere technical grounds.

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