BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LTD. vs COMMISSIONER OF SALES TAX, CUTTACK — C.A. No. 2048/2008

Case Summary: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. v. Commissioner of Sales Tax, Cuttack Outcome: The Supreme Court set aside all proceedings initiated by the Sales Tax Authorities and remitted the matter for reassessment. The Court clarified that electromagnetic waves and radio frequencies cannot be taxed as "goods" under sales tax law; only handsets and equipment supplied by the telecom service provider constitute taxable goods. The Assessing Officer was directed to recompute sales tax based on rental charges and equipment costs only, excluding service-related charges. Next Steps: The Assessing Authority was granted liberty to re-compute and raise fresh demand in accordance with the corrected legal framework established by the Court's judgment, decided July 25, 2013. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.