JUDGMENT

S. Muralidhar, C.J. - By an order dated 22nd September 2015, this Court formulated the following substantial question of law for consideration in the present petition:

"The Petitioner having separately charged freight in the sale bill whether the Tribunal is legally correct in holding that it is part of sale price and the Petitioner is not entitled to claim deduction of freight?"

2. The background facts are that the Petitioner is a manufacturer of cast iron goods and is also engaged in the trading of iron and steel goods. The Petitioner is a registered dealer under the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947 (OST Act) and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (CST Act).

3. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Maharashtra Telecom Circle, Mumbai floated a tender on 30th April 1998, for supply of "cast iron socket-Socket 'B'." Clause 9 of the Bid Document stipulated the bid price. Clause 9.1 required the bidder to quote a basic unit price and other component prices individually in terms of the Schedule given in Section (iii). Clause 9.2 (i) provided that the bidder should quote the exci