The Apex Court of India once again laid a road map to curb the misuse of the provisions embedded in the law statutes. One of the most frequently abused provisions of law is Section 498A of Indian Penal Code, 1860. The Supreme Court has provided guidelines earlier and further added a few more in the light of the increased mistreatment of family disputes, more specifically the matrimonial differences under the guise of dowry harassments. The latest guidelines issued by the Supreme Court are aimed towards transparency in dealing with dowry deaths, one of the social problems, involving groups of social workers, para legal authorities and other agencies to check the filing of frivolous complaints of dowry harassment while upholding the need for stringent action against the accused who are involved in the death of dowry victims. It also directed the involvement of district legal service authorities, district level three-member family welfare committees, magistrates in addition to the police officers in dealing with the dowry harassment complaints. It is intended to involve the family welfare committees in the first phase before the accused members are arrested. It will be a positive step in the way of judicial activism.
The Supreme Court recently rejected the plea of a 10-year-old rape victim for the termination of the pregnancy of 32-week fetus by quoting the norms laid down by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. This is an important step towards addressing another social problem. The court also admonished the government to set up permanent medical boards across the states so that women, especially child rape victims, get faster relief. The women are facing acute problems in filing cases to abort the fetuses which are in deformity. Enough time is lost in approaching the courts and getting medical reports for the final decision of granting permission for termination of the pregnancy. In spite of its stern interpretation of the provisions of MTP Act, now and then the Court has taken a decision in favor of termination of fetus of more than 24 weeks for valid reasons such as medical disorders.
It is evident from various other decisions, including the PIL filed against the demonetization, linking of Aadhaar Card with Income Tax, and right to privacy, the Supreme Court is playing a proactive role in ensuring the transparency and involvement of various agencies, in addition to the police, in the preparation of reports. It is a welcome step towards positivism and inclusive decision making.
The first paper of this issue, “The Role of Law Commission in Revamping the Overburdened Supreme Court”, by B Muthu Kumar, analyzes the disturbing trend of judicial activism and reports of the Law Commission in restructuring the Supreme Court both internally and externally, along with the Supreme Court’s inclination towards National Court of Appeal.
Masood Ahmad and Mohd Imran, in their paper, “Educational Qualifications of Elected Representatives: Need of the Hour for a Progressive Democracy”, explain the importance of and the need for elected representatives with extensive experience and knowledge for assessing the complicated socioeconomic issues faced by the society today.
V G Ranganath, in his paper, “Access to Environmental Justice: Retrospect and Prospect”, explains the evolution of the environmental justice and need for a good policy for effective distribution of justice.
The paper, “A Critical Analysis of the Application of the Maxim Quicquid Plantatur Solo, Solo Cedit Under Cameroonian Law”, by Fonja Julius Achu, explains the jurisprudential approach to ownership and title relating to the land. Whatever that is fixed to the land belongs to that land irrespective of the ownership of the fixed.
The paper, “Genetically Modified Organisms in Agriculture and Judicial Activism: A Review”, by Baseerat Fatima, gives a picture of the technology used to modify the genes of some of the organisms and the impact thereof.
Automated Teller Machines (ATMs): The Changing Face of Banking in India
Bank Management
Information and communication technology has changed the way in which banks provide services to its customers. These days the customers are able to perform their routine banking transactions without even entering the bank premises. ATM is one such development in recent years, which provides remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the development of this self-service banking in India based on the secondary data.
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is playing a very important role in the progress and advancement in almost all walks of life. The deregulated environment has provided an opportunity to restructure the means and methods of delivery of services in many areas, including the banking sector. The ICT has been a focused issue in the past two decades in Indian banking. In fact, ICTs are enabling the banks to change the way in which they are functioning. Improved customer service has become very important for the very survival and growth of banking sector in the reforms era. The technological advancements, deregulations, and intense competition due to the entry of private sector and foreign banks have altered the face of banking from one of mere intermediation to one of provider of quick, efficient and customer-friendly services. With the introduction and adoption of ICT in the banking sector, the customers are fast moving away from the traditional branch banking system to the convenient and comfort of virtual banking. The most important virtual banking services are phone banking, mobile banking, Internet banking and ATM banking. These electronic channels have enhanced the delivery of banking services accurately and efficiently to the customers. The ATMs are an important part of a bank’s alternative channel to reach the customers, to showcase products and services and to create brand awareness. This is reflected in the increase in the number of ATMs all over the world. ATM is one of the most widely used remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the growth of ATMs of different bank groups in India.
International Scenario
If ATMs are largely available over geographically dispersed areas, the benefit from using an ATM will increase as customers will be able to access their bank accounts from any geographic location. This would imply that the value of an ATM network increases with the number of available ATM locations, and the value of a bank network to a customer will be determined in part by the final network size of the banking system. The statistical information on the growth of branches and ATM network in select countries.
Indian Scenario
The financial services industry in India has witnessed a phenomenal growth, diversification and specialization since the initiation of financial sector reforms in 1991. Greater customer orientation is the only way to retain customer loyalty and withstand competition in the liberalized world. In a market-driven strategy of development, customer preference is of paramount importance in any economy. Gone are the days when customers used to come to the doorsteps of banks. Now the banks are required to chase the customers; only those banks which are customercentric and extremely focused on the needs of their clients can succeed in their business today.
