TSQL-ORDER BY clause in a CTE expression?

A good alternative is to use ROW_NUMBER inside the CTE:

;with y as
(
     select  
         rn = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY card_No),
         txn_Date_Time, 
         txn_time, 
         card_No, 
         batch_No, 
         terminal_ID
     from 
         C1_Transaction_Information
     where 
         txn_Date_Time = '2017-10-31'
)
select txn_Date_Time, 
         txn_time, 
         card_No, 
         batch_No, 
         terminal_ID
from y 
order by rn;

This gives you the option to then select TOP 10 as TOP ...ORDER BY is not allowed within a CTE:

;with y as
(
     select  
         rn = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY card_No),
         txn_Date_Time, 
         txn_time, 
         card_No, 
         batch_No, 
         terminal_ID
     from 
         C1_Transaction_Information
     where 
         txn_Date_Time = '2017-10-31'
)
select txn_Date_Time, 
         txn_time, 
         card_No, 
         batch_No, 
         terminal_ID
from y 
where rn <= 10;

You can't use "Order By" in a CTE but you can move the order by to the select statement calling the CTE and have the affect I believe you are looking for

;with y as(
select txn_Date_Time,txn_time,card_No,batch_No,terminal_ID
from C1_Transaction_Information
where txn_Date_Time='2017-10-31'

)

select * from y order by card_No;

FYI https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/queries/with-common-table-expression-transact-sql

The following clauses cannot be used in the CTE_query_definition:

ORDER BY (except when a TOP clause is specified)

INTO

OPTION clause with query hints

FOR BROWSE

You can use ORDER BY in a cte if the cte delivers JSON

WITH cte(n) AS (
    SELECT 1
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 2
), cte2(j) AS (
    SELECT n 
    FROM cte
    ORDER BY n
    FOR JSON PATH
)
SELECT * FROM cte2;

The rationale is you can use ORDER BY in final output. Before final output, you can keep the columns necessary for the ordering to be called later.