So It Was Worth It
In 1999, Indian lawyer Tungnath Chaturvedi purchased two railway tickets at Mathura station in Uttar Pradesh to go to Moradabad. The tickets was supposed to cost 70 rupees in total, but was instead charged 90. He raised the issue then and asked for a refund, but was denied.
Chaturvedi then filed a report at the local consumer court in Mathura against the North East Railways Service division of Indian Railways. This began a long legal battle lasting over 100 hearings, going all the way up to the supreme court. Last year, after 22 years, the court finally ruled in his favour, ordering the railways to pay a fine of 15,000 rupees (around $280 AUD), as well as the outstanding amount plus 12% interest.
Throughout the whole endeavour, his friends and family encouraged him to give it up, saying it was waste of time and money.
“It’s not the money that matters,” he said. “This was always about a fight for justice and a fight against corruption, so it was worth it.”