Science toppers lose ranks - Week's time for first girl in arts; action against college

Both Saurav Shreshtha and Ruby Rai were students of Vishun Roy College

JOY SENGUPTA, TT, Patna, June 4: The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) today cancelled the Intermediate exam results of science stream toppers Saurav Shreshtha and Rahul Kumar - both of Vishun Roy College in Vaishali - after it was found that their answers were not up to the mark. 

The board's decision means that both Saurav and Rahul will have to appear in the exam next year. 

While Saurav came first in the science stream, Rahul was third. Ruby Rai, the topper in the arts stream, who did not appear before the board, had been given time till June 11 else her result would be cancelled too.

In all, 13 toppers in the science and arts streams have sat yesterday for a special exam-cum-interview, board chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh said.

"Since the controversy over toppers from a particular college cropped up, the board took up the matter and 14 top-ranking students of science and arts streams had been called on Friday to appear for a special examination and interview. Except for Ruby, the rest attended. Of them, 11 were given a clean chit. However, the special panel consisting of teachers who took their exam found that the answers given by Saurav and Rahul were not satisfactory. Also, their interview was not up to the mark. Hence, their results have been cancelled," Lalkeshwar said after a five-hour meeting.

"On the other hand, affiliation to the college has been suspended with immediate effect. The board will now form a three-member committee under a retired high court judge and they will hold a thorough investigation into the whole matter. The committee will identify the people who are allegedly involved in the scandal and the board will take action based on the committee's report. The future of the college will be decided on the report too. Apart from the retired high court judge, the committee, to be formed by this week, will also have a retired IAS or IPS officer and an academician, most probably a former vice-chancellor," Lalkeshwar said.

With the board suspending the affiliation of the college, none of its students will be able to appear in any examination conducted by it until the investigations are complete. "For now, the college does not even exist in the board's affiliation list," he said.

Ruby, who had scored 444 of 500 in the arts stream, had been given time as the board found that she was depressed. "Action against Amit Kumar alias Bachcha Rai, the director-cum-principal of Vishun Roy College, will be initiated only after the committee submits its report. Ruby should be given a fair chance. If she fails to appear by June 11, her result will be cancelled without any further delay," he added.

The exam-cum-interview of the 13 toppers continued for more than five hours yesterday in which they were made to write and also asked questions from syllabus by the panel consisting of teachers from Patna University, Magadh University and other educational institutions. "The questions were mainly objective in nature and their (students) original answer sheets were present with the panel. The handwriting of the examinees matched though. I cannot shell out more details about yesterday's exam, as I was not there. The actions are solely based on the report filed by the panel," Lalkeshwar said.

The controversy was stoked by the failure of two toppers to answer basic questions pertaining to their subjects in a TV show.