New Delhi: With the Election Commission seeking proper guidelines on exit/insta polls, the Supreme Court on Friday posted a petition, seeking a ban on such exercises, for final hearing after summer vacation.

Earlier, counsel for the Commission and others pleaded with a Bench, comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices P.K. Balasubramanyan and R.V. Raveendran, for expeditious hearing in view of the importance of the issue.

Counsel for the Commission Meenakshi Arora said that during the recent Punjab Assembly elections, television channels telecast an `insta poll' (giving exit poll results even as polling is under way), violating all norms. P.K. Parekh, counsel for the Press Council of India, said the PCI had laid down that exit polls be permitted only after the completion of all phases of an election. But the media were not following such guidelines.

The PCI supported petitioner D.K. Thakur in his demand for a ban.

"Deleterious effect"

The petitioner said the telecast or publication of opinion/exit polls had a deleterious influence on electors when they were making up their minds on whether or not they should vote for a certain party or candidate. The methodology of the opinion/exit polls varied from organisation to organisation. As a result, such exercises were always off the mark and affected free and fair elections.

The petitioner said the voters generally were influenced by such poll results, which affected their psyche.

The exercise placed a particular party in an advantageous position and rendered its opponent demoralised. Interfering with free and fair elections was an attack on democracy itself.

In its reply, the Centre said that at present there was no law to prohibit exit/opinion polls on the reasoning that they unduly influenced the voter. Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution provided for freedom of speech and expression, "which embraces within its scope the freedom of propagation, interchange of ideas and dissemination of information, which would help in formation of one's opinion and viewpoint, and debates on matters encompassing public concern."

It was for the Election Commission to issue due directions and frame guidelines without infringing the fundamental right conferred under Article 19 (1) (a).

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