The HC quashed and set aside the impugned order of Respondent...

The HC quashed and set aside the impugned order of Respondent No.1 issued under Section 119(2)(b), and condoned an 84-day delay in filing Form No.10B. Consequently, the petitioner is not to be deprived of exemption under Section 11 on the ground of the delayed audit report; the denial of benefits was held to cause genuine hardship and was therefore inappropriate. The court found the authority's refusal unduly pedantic, endorsing a justice-oriented discretionary exercise consistent with prior judicial approaches, and directed that the petitioner's belated Form No.10B be treated as valid for purposes of claiming Section 11 exemption.

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