Partnership registration under income tax law requires a valid deed at application date; delay in filing may be condoned, not late execution.

Registration under the Income-tax Act, 1961 depends on compliance with section 184(4) and section 184(5): the application must be filed before the end of the previous year, with delay in filing capable of being condoned, and it must be supported by the original partnership instrument. The deed need only be operative on the date of application, not for the whole accounting year, and the earlier Supreme Court position was not displaced by the amended wording. However, the power to condone delay extends only to late filing of the application and does not cure execution of the partnership deed after the close of the previous year. On the facts stated, registration could not be directed and the reference was answered against the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the assessee-firm was entitled to registration under the Income-tax Act, 1961 when the partnership deed was executed after the close of the previous year but the delay in filing the application for registration was condoned.

Analysis: The relevant scheme under section 184(4) and section 184(5) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 requires that the application for registration be made before the end of the previous year, subject to condonation of delay in filing the application, and that it be accompanied by the original instrument evidencing the partnership. The Court held that the earlier Supreme Court ruling was not displaced by the change in statutory language, and that the deed need only be in force on the date of application, not throughout the entire accounting year. The power to excuse delay extends only to the filing of the application and does not extend to the execution of the partnership deed itself.

Conclusion: Registration could not be directed on the facts found, and the answer to the reference was against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

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