Can a SELECT Be Part of a Transaction

 Yes, a SELECT can and often should be part of a transaction when business logic requires consistent reads before performing modifications. Transactions are not only for INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE operations; they protect an entire unit of work. In SQL Server, SELECT statements participate in transaction management through locking or row versioning mechanisms, helping enforce ACID properties, prevent race conditions, and ensure that business decisions are made on consistent data. This is particularly important in banking, inventory management, ticket booking, trading systems, and financial reconciliation processes where incorrect reads can be just as damaging as incorrect writes.

Internally select work as flow 

Transaction Manager à Begin Tran à  Acquire Locks à Read Data à  Release Locks à  Commit

The SELECT becomes part of the transaction scope.