N. L. Untwalia, C. J.

1. At the instance of the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Bihar, the Commercial Taxes Tribunal has stated a case and referred the following question of law for determination by this court under Sec.25 (1) of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1947 (hereinafter called the Act ). Whether, in the facts and circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in holding that the railway freight did not form part of the sale price ? for the assessment year 1958-59, the assessee-company which is a registered dealer dealing in cement had filed a return excluding from the gross turnover the amount of railway freight shown separately in the bills and paid by the purchasers. The Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Shahabad, accepted the returned figure and assessed the tax accordingly in his assessment order dated 16th December, 1963. The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, however, proceeded to revise the assessment suo motu and, accordingly, issued a notice under Sec.24 (4) of the Act read with Rule 36 (5) (a) of the Bihar Sales Tax Rules, 1949. The notice was issued on 21st March, 1966. Before the Commissioner, a stand was taken on behalf of the assessee that