The Supreme Court rejected the petition demanding an investigation into the exit polls, calling it politically motivated. The petition said that media houses and their associated companies influence investors by showing exit polls after the voting. In such a situation, the exit polls shown after the final phase of the Lok Sabha should be investigated. The bench of CJI Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra said that this petition is politically motivated.
The bench said, the government has been formed. Now the debate on the Lok Sabha elections should stop and attention should be paid to administration. The Election Commission will handle these matters. We will not run the Election Commission. Therefore, the petition is dismissed. It was said in this petition that after the elections, investors were influenced by the exit polls and then after the results came, the stock market collapsed and they suffered a loss of 31 lakh crores.
It was said in the petition that after the voting, media houses started debates and motivated investors to invest money in the stock market. Due to this, the stock market rose unexpectedly. After this, when the results came, the stock market fell rapidly. Rs 31 lakh crore of common investors were lost. This petition was filed by Advocate BL Jain.
In the petition filed through advocate Varun Thakur, it was said that the loss of 31 lakh crores affected not only India but also the international economy. Investors are affected by biased debates or news broadcasts. The petition said that electronic media works like a commercial industry.
The petition said that releasing the exit poll is a violation of Section 126A of the Representation of People Act 1951. The Election Commission had set rules on 2 April 2024, they have also been violated. The petition demanded an investigation by CBI, ED, CBDT, SEBI, SFIO. The petitioner said that Axis My India, India Today Media Plex, Times Now, Independent News Service Private Limited, ABP News, Public Media Network, News Nation Network, TV9 Bharatvarsh and NDTV should be investigated.