Bombay lawyer Sanjay Kothari wins Rs 9 refund from telephone service provider MTNL in the Supreme Court, 18 years after he first filed a suit against the company for wrongfully charging extra service tax in his phone bill.

He then files a contempt petition against MTNL for failure to follow a Bombay HC order from 2010 and refund the extra tax charged by it to other customers. An RTI application filed by him reveals that MTNL has to refund Rs 9 each to 1.8 lakh customers.

“It was a matter of principle,” says Kothari adding, “MTNL is a public body and if they wrongly charge consumers, they must refund it. Otherwise, it is a case of unjust enrichment.” [TOI]