← All questionsGS4 · 2023 · Case Studies — Private Sector ·Bank Manager and the Dormant Account (Case)
QUESTION 7
GS4
20 marks

You are working as an executive in a nationalized bank for several years. One day one of your close colleagues tells you that her father is suffering from heart disease and needs surgery to survive. She also tells you that she has no insurance and the operation will cost about Rs 10 lakh. You are also aware of the fact that her husband is no more and that she is from a lower middle class family. You are empathetic about her situation. However, apart from expressing your sympathy, you do not have the resources to fund her. A few weeks later, you ask her about the well-being of her father and she informs you about his successful surgery and that he is recovering. She then confides in you that the bank manager was kind enough to facilitate the release of 10 lakhs from a dormant account of someone to pay for the operation with a promise that it should be confidential and be repaid at the earliest. She has already started paying it back and will continue to do so until it is all returned.(a) What are the ethical issues involved?(b) Evaluate the behavior of the bank manager from an ethical point of view.(c) How would you react to the situation?

WRITE IN
14 min
250 words

What the examiner wants

A colleague's father's surgery was paid with ₹10 lakh released by the bank manager from someone else's dormant account, to be repaid quietly. Identify issues, judge the manager, and decide your response.

Case studyName the stakeholders and the issues, weigh the options, and say what you would do and why.

Demand-wise check

  1. 1(a) Ethical issues: misuse of depositors' money, breach of fiduciary trust, compassion vs law, confidentiality vs duty to report, risk to the colleague≈65 words
  2. 2(b) Manager: motive was compassionate, but the act is fraud and criminal breach of trust; good intent does not make it right≈65 words
  3. 3(c) Your response: talk to the colleague, advise her to disclose and repay through proper channels; report the matter to higher authority or vigilance; help her find legal help (loan, crowdfunding, schemes)≈65 words

Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.

Answer plan

Facts and stakeholders(a) issues(b) evaluation of manager(c) your steps in orderConclusion on compassion within rules

Where marks usually go

  • Saying nothing should be done because the money is being returned
  • Ignoring sub-part (b)'s evaluation of the manager

Draw this

  • Stakeholder map: account holder, bank, colleague, manager, you

Value addition

  • LawCriminal breach of trust by a banker is punishable under Section 316(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (earlier Section 409 IPC).Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
  • SchemeAyushman Bharat PM-JAY gives health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year for eligible families, an honest alternative route.National Health Authority

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