'Justice prevails': Indian man wins 22-year-old legal battle with railways over overpriced ticket

An Indian man Tungnath Chaturvedi has won a 22-year-old legal battle with the railways over an overpriced ticket.

In 1999, Chaturvedi bought two railway tickets for which he was charged 20 rupees ($0.25; £0.21) extra at Mathura cantonment railway station in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Chaturvedi, a lawyer, filed a case against the North East Railway in consumer court against the injustice which specifically deals with grievances related to services.

Chaturvedi told BBC, "I have attended more than 100 hearings in connection with this case. But you can't put a price on the energy and time I've lost fighting this case."

According to him, "The railways also tried to dismiss the case, saying complaints against the railways should be addressed to the railway tribunal and notconsumer court."

"But we used a 2021 Supreme Court ruling to prove that the matter could be heard in a consumer court," he added.

After a long legal battle for 22 years, the consumer court ordered the railways to pay him a fine of 15,000 rupees ($188; £154) and refund him the 20 rupees at 12 per cent interest per year.

According to the court, the interest rate would be increased to 15 per cent if the amount was not paid within the specified time of 30 days.

In response, Chaturvedi said, "It's not the money that matters. This was always a fight for justice and a fight against corruption, so it was worth it."

"Also, since I am an advocate myself, I didn't have to pay money to a lawyer or bear the cost of travelling to the court. That can get quite expensive," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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