New Delhi, March 9: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a PIL seeking a ban on opinion polls before the election results are announced. In the recently concluded Assembly Elections for three north-eastern states- Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland, the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued a directive saying that special care must be taken to report opinion polls accurately and fairly, by disclosing to viewers as to who commissioned, conducted and paid for the conduct of the opinion polls and the broadcast.

“If a news broadcaster carries the results of an opinion poll or other election projection, it must also explain the context and the scope and limits of such polls with their limitations. Broadcast of opinion polls should be accompanied by information to assist viewers to understand the poll’s significance, such as the methodology used, the sample size, the margin of error, the fieldwork dates, and data used. Broadcasters should also disclose how vote shares are converted to seat shares”, it had said in its notification.

The ECI said it will monitor the broadcasts made by news broadcasters from the time elections are announced until the conclusion and announcement of election results. Any violation by member broadcasters reported to the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) by the Election Commission will be dealt with by the NBSA under its regulations.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 09, 2018 02:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).