SC dismisses PIL for regulating exit polls, calls it ‘political interest litigation’

The bench said the poll panel is competent to handle the issue, and it cannot run the Election Commission. File
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

The Supreme Court on Friday (September 6, 2024) junked a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to regulate exit polls for its alleged impact on election results, saying, “let us get on with governance in the country” and close this “saga”.

Terming the PIL as a “political interest litigation”, a bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra dismissed the plea filed by B.L. Jain.

“The government is already elected now. Let us now close the saga of what happens during elections and let us now get on with governance in the country,” the CJI said.

The bench said the poll panel is competent to handle the issue, and it cannot run the Election Commission.

“This is a political interest litigation…Dismissed,” it said.

Mr. Jain, in his PIL, had made several poll-surveying agencies and news channels as parties.