The special vigilance court on Thursday directed police and the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) to verify the provisional matriculation certificate of Ruby Rai which states her date of birth, according to which her age is a little over 17 years and 7 months which makes her a minor.
The verification process, the court directed, has to be completed by Monday.
Ruby, the disgraced intermediate arts topper, is lodged at the Beur Central Jail since last Saturday when she was arrested.
Non-government organisation Prayas Juvenile Aide Centre has taken up Ruby's cause, saying the girl was a minor and she should have been sent to a juvenile home instead of jail.
"On Wednesday, we had produced her admission form in the court as her age proof. However, the court had asked us to bring concrete evidence and hence we appeared today (Thursday) with her original provisional certificate of the matriculation (Class X) exams. The court has told the police and BSEB to get the document verified by Monday," Suresh Kumar, the state programme director of Prayas Juvenile Aide Centre, told The Telegraph.
According to Ruby's provisional certificate which was submitted by the NGO in the court and a copy of which is with The Telegraph, Ruby completed her matriculation from Shambhupur Koari High School in 2014. The certificate mentions her birth date as November 15, 1998, and further says she passed her matriculation exams with second division marks.
If the birth date is correct, Ruby's age, as of June 25 when she was arrested, was 17 years 7 months and 10 days, which makes her a juvenile under the law.
Shambhupur Koari High School is located in Bhagwanpur, a block headquarters town in Vaishali district, 40km north of Patna.
The Telegraph got in touch with Sanjay Kumar, the head master of the school, who confirmed that Ruby had been a student there.
"Yes, she was a student here and was pretty regular to class. She was a below average student. She used to ride to school on a bicycle from her residence, a distance of around 4km from here. We have been reading about her a lot these last few days and what we are hearing is shocking. One thing which made Ruby stand out was that she defied her teachers, including me, whenever she was asked to wear the school uniform (light blue shirt and navy blue skirt). She always used to wear trousers," Sanjay, who has been with the school since 2013, told The Telegraph.
The BSEB had until now claimed they had no clue about the school from where Ruby did her matriculation.
Legal experts said the police could be in a soup if it was proved that Ruby was a minor.
" The police have said that when Ruby was produced after her arrest, she didn't take the plea that she was a minor and hence the court sent her to judicial custody in the jail. While there is nothing wrong on what the police have done, it will definitely be a major embarrassment for them if it is proved that she is a minor.The police could have taken precautionary steps and verified her age before producing her before the court. If she is proved to be a minor, her family can accuse the police of illegal confinement and go to the human rights commission or the high court," said Patna High Court advocate Dinesh Kumar.
Another warrant
The police have procured an arrest warrant against Vivek Kumar, the son-in-law of arrested former BSEB boss Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh and his wife Usha Sinha.
Vivek is on the run. According to police sources, he allegedly managed the tenders awarded to the printing press by BSEB. The choice of the printing press and processing unit at which the answer sheets and mark sheets were printed was done by him in association with Lalkeshwar and Usha, the sources added.
