EC, Press Council favour ban on opinion, exit polls

New Delhi: The Election Commission and Press Council of India favour the imposition of checks and regulations on airing opinion and exit polls in the country. The two bodies made this clear to the Supreme Court on Friday in response to a PIL seeking proper regulation of opinion and exist poll.

EC counsel Meenakshi Arora, appearing before a bench headed by chief justice K G Balakrishnan, referred the airing of the ‘insta poll’ organised by a television channel about the recently concluded Punjab assembly polls when it went ahead with the programme while the polling was undergoing.

“Since 10:00 am the channel carried the poll,” said Arora pleading for the need for checks and regulations on such poll predictions.

Advocate P H Parekh, appearing for the PCI said that a guidelines for regulating opinion and exit polls have been prepared by it which was in the nature of advisory and cannot be binding. Such types of opinion polls do affect the results, said Parekh.
Lawyers representing the parties in the PIL said the court should hear the matter expeditiously as it was of considerable importance.

However, the bench which also comprises Justice P K Balasubranyan and Justice R V Raveendran, did not give any date for hearing the matter before adjourning it.
The PIL on the issue was filed by advocate D K Thakur in 2004. Later in February 2006 notices were also issued to Congress, BJP and TDP and nine media houses after Thakur’s plea to implead them as necessary parties to the petition was allowed.