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7. Any other ground that may be urged at the time of hearing. "

3. The brief facts of the case are that, the assessee is engaged in the business of software development and IT-enabled services and filed its return of income for A.Y. 2019-20 on 31.12.2019 declaring the total income of Rs. 3,81,84,691/- and claimed exemption under Section 10AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for Rs. 3,17,05,980/-. The return of income filed by the assessee has been processed and intimation under Section 143(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was issued on 03.06.2020 and determined total income at Rs. 7,67,83,590/- by making addition towards disallowance of exemption under Section 10AA of the Act for Rs. 3,17,05,980/- and further addition of Rs.68,50,950/- towards dividend income. The A.O. denied exemption under Section 10AA of the Act, on the ground that the assessee has not furnished return of income on or before extended due date for filing return of income under Section 139(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Similarly, for A.Y. 2020-21, the assessee had filed return of income on 15.03.2022 and declared total income of Rs. 8,28,16,480/- and claimed exemption under Section 10AA of the ITA Nos.449 and 1540/Hyd/2025 MARS Telecom Systems Pvt. Ltd., Income Tax Act, 1961 for Rs. 6,31,83,072/-. The A.O./CPC processed return of income and issued intimation under Section 143(1) of the Act, on 28.12.2022 and determined the total income at Rs. 14,59,99,550/- by making addition towards disallowance of deduction under Section 10AA of the Act, for Rs. 6,31,83,072/- on the ground that the assessee has furnished report of accountant in Form 56F beyond the due date specified under Section 139(1) of the Act.

5. The Ld. CIT(A), after considering relevant submissions of the assessee, deleted the additions made by the A.O. towards disallowance of deduction under Section 10AA of the Act, for A.Y. 2019-20 on the ground that filing of return of income on or before the due date for filing return of income under Section 139(1) of the Act, is not mandatory for claiming deduction under Section 10AA of the Act, for the assessment year in question, because the said condition has been inserted by the Finance Act, 2023 w.e.f. 01.04.2024, and therefore, once the assessee has filed relevant Form 56F from the accountant certifying the amount thereon, then there is no reason for disallowance of deduction under Section 10AA of the Act. Similarly, the Ld. CIT(A) deleted the addition made by the A.O. for A.Y. 2021-22 on the ground that the delay of sixteen minutes in filing Form 56F is not due to the mistake of the assessee and it is purely due to the technical error ITA Nos.449 and 1540/Hyd/2025 MARS Telecom Systems Pvt. Ltd., in the ITBA portal, which is evident from the relevant screenshot submitted by the assessee, which clearly proves that the assessee has uploaded the Form 56F well within the time and it was in the queue before it was finally uploaded in the ITBA portal. Therefore, the Ld. CIT(A) directed the A.O. to delete the disallowance of deduction under Section 10AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for both the assessment years.

13. The Ld. CIT(A) deleted the additions made by the A.O. for A.Y. 2019-20 by holding that filing return of income on or before the due date provided under Section 139(1) of the Act, is not mandatory for claiming deduction under Section 10AA of the Act, for A.Y. 2019-20, because the amendment inserted to Section 10AA by the Finance Act, 2023 is applicable from A.Y. 2024-25 onwards. In our considered view, the findings of fact recorded by the Ld. CIT(A) are in accordance with law and going by the provisions of Section 10AA r.w.s. 80A(5) and Section 80AC of the Act, there is no mandatory condition for filing return of income on or before the due date provided under Section 139(1) of the Act, and the only condition for claiming deduction is that the said deduction should be claimed in the return of income filed by the ITA Nos.449 and 1540/Hyd/2025 MARS Telecom Systems Pvt. Ltd., assessee. Therefore, in our considered view, there is no error in the reasons given by the Ld. CIT(A) to delete the additions made by the A.O. for A.Y. 2019-20 towards deduction under Section 10AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Insofar as the arguments of the Ld. CIT-DR for the Revenue in light of the decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Principal CIT vs. Wipro Ltd. (supra), we find that, the case law referred to by the Ld. CIT-DR is on the issue of deduction claimed under Section 10B of the Act, where the provision itself makes it mandatory for filing return of income on or before the due date provided under Section 139(1) of the Act, so as to claim deduction under Section 10B of the Act. However, there is no such provision in Section 10AA of the Act up to A.Y. 2024-25. Therefore, the case law relied upon by the Ld. CIT-DR is not applicable to the facts of the present case and thus, rejected.

14. Coming back to deduction claimed for A.Y. 2021-22. The facts with regard to the assessee is eligible for claiming deduction under Section 10AA of the Act, are not disputed by the A.O. The only reason for disallowance under Section 10AA of the Act, is delay in filing Form 56F for claiming the said deduction. The A.O. ITA Nos.449 and 1540/Hyd/2025 MARS Telecom Systems Pvt. Ltd., has disallowed the deduction on the ground that the assessee has filed Form 56F on 16.02.2022 at 12:16 hours. The assessee has clarified the above discrepancy and explained that, the due date for filing return of income for A.Y. 2021-22 has been extended up to 15.03.2022, and as per the provisions of Section 10AA of the Act, Form 56F should be filed at least one month before the due date for filing return of income under Section 139(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and if we consider the above date, then the assessee should have filed Form 56F on 15.02.2022. The assessee further submitted that, the assessee has uploaded relevant Form 56F well within time. However, due to last-minute rush in the ITBA portal, the Form uploaded by the assessee was in queue and finally was uploaded in ITBA portal at 00:16 hours, which is evident from the relevant screenshot downloaded from the ITBA portal. We find that, the Ld. CIT(A) has extracted relevant screenshot downloaded from ITBA portal and as per the said evidence, the delay of 16 minutes in filing Form 56F is not due to the mistake of the assessee, but it is on account of last-minute rush in the ITBA portal. Therefore, in our considered view, once the assessee has uploaded the form i.e., Form 56F on last day of the due date for ITA Nos.449 and 1540/Hyd/2025 MARS Telecom Systems Pvt. Ltd., filing the said form, the delay of 16 minutes in uploading Form 56F cannot be considered as delay in filing the above form beyond the due date so as to deny the deduction under Section 10AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Ld. CIT(A), after considering the relevant facts, has rightly allowed the deduction under Section 10AA of the Act.