Rabi Ray was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the ninth Lok Sabha on December 19, 1989.Fully conscious of the onerous responsibility and impartiality of the high office, Ray assured members that so long as he was the Speaker; he would remain above party politics and would be fair to all.

Rabi Ray was Speaker from December 19, 1989 till July 9, 1991.

History was created during Speaker Rabi Ray's tenure when, for the first time, a motion of confidence moved by then Prime Minister V P Singh was discussed and adopted on the same day. Eleven months later, history was again created when, for the first time, a motion of confidence was defeated resulting in the fall of the V P Singh government.

One of the most important and far-reaching decisions, which Speaker Ray took related to the issue of disqualification of some of the members from the membership of the Lok Sabha following a split in the Janata Dal.

During his tenure, Ray introduced certain changes in the practices and procedures of the House so as to provide more and more opportunities to the members for raising matters of urgent public importance. The 'Zero Hour', though not recognised in the Rules of Procedure, has always been used by members to raise issues and draw the attention of the House on matters of urgent public importance. Ray innovated an institutional arrangement to regulate the proceedings during the 'Zero Hour' for the better utilisation of the time of the House.