The Topper Who Couldn't Name Her Subject
•INVESTIGATIVE DISPATCH•BY ADITYA
Editorial Illustration:Prodigal science: an editorial cartoon exposing the manufactured merit lists and fraudulent evaluation machinery of the Bihar topper scandal.
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The Topper Who Couldn't Name Her Subject
In 2016, Ruby Rai topped Bihar's Class 12 Arts stream with 444 out of 500 marks. When a TV reporter asked what Political Science was about, she said it was about cooking.
On 31 May 2016, the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) declared its Class 12 Intermediate results. Ruby Rai, a student at Vishun Rai College in Vaishali, had scored 444 out of 500 in the Arts stream — placing her first in the entire state.
A regional news channel invited her for a celebratory interview.
Reporter: "You topped in Political Science. What is Political Science about?"
Ruby Rai: "Prodigal science."
Reporter: "...Sorry?"
Ruby Rai: "Prodigal science. It teaches us about cooking."
The interview was broadcast live. Bihar watched. Then the country watched. Then the clip went on YouTube and stayed there forever.
She Was Not Alone
Ruby Rai was the Arts topper. The Science stream topper, Saurabh Shrestha, was also invited for an interview. A reporter asked him to explain H₂O.
He could not.
BSEB, now facing a national television crisis, summoned the top 14 rank holders from both streams for emergency re-examination in Patna.
Ruby Rai sat down at her desk and wrote: "Tulsidas ji pranam" — a greeting to the medieval Hindi poet Tulsidas — and left the rest of the paper blank.
She was disqualified. Then arrested.
The Machinery Behind the Marks
Ruby Rai had not set out to top the state. By her own subsequent admission, she had simply wanted to pass with a second division. But Vishun Rai College — run by Bachcha Rai, a local politician — had developed a sophisticated answer-sheet substitution racket in which wealthy or connected families paid to have their children's booklets replaced with pre-written high-scoring ones during evaluation.
Ruby Rai had been slotted into a pre-written 444/500 answer sheet without her own involvement.
The racket unravelled as soon as she opened her mouth on camera.
BSEB Chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh was arrested. Bachcha Rai was arrested. The college was de-recognised. The Bihar government overhauled the evaluation system with barcoded anonymous booklets and independent evaluator assignment.
And Ruby Rai, who genuinely knew nothing about Political Science or cooking, went home with neither a degree nor an explanation.
Timeline: INC-ABS-2016-BR-019
| Date | What Happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May 2016 | BSEB declares results; Ruby Rai named Arts state topper with 444/500 | NDTV, 31 May 2016 |
| 31 May 2016 | Ruby Rai states Political Science is about "prodigal science" and cooking on live TV; clip goes viral | Indian Express, 1 Jun 2016 |
| Early June 2016 | Science topper Saurabh Shrestha also unable to explain H₂O on camera | Hindustan Times, 2 Jun 2016 |
| 3–5 June 2016 | BSEB summons top 14 rank holders for emergency re-test; Ruby Rai writes only "Tulsidas ji pranam" | BBC, 6 Jun 2016 |
| June 2016 | Ruby Rai and Saurabh Shrestha disqualified; Bachcha Rai and BSEB Chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh arrested | The Hindu, Jun 2016 |
| 2016–2017 | BSEB overhauls evaluation with barcoded booklets and anonymous examiner assignment | BSEB Official Circular |
Sources & Further Reading
- "Ruby Rai: Bihar topper who said 'political science is about cooking' arrested" — BBC News, 6 June 2016. bbc.com
- "Bihar board topper Ruby Rai couldn't explain Political Science, Saurabh Shrestha stumped on H2O" — The Indian Express, 1 June 2016. indianexpress.com
- "Bihar board topper scam: BSEB chairman arrested" — NDTV, June 2016. ndtv.com
- "Bihar toppers fail re-test, results cancelled" — Hindustan Times, June 2016. hindustantimes.com
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