Exit poll F.I.R on Dainik Jagran, editor arrested

People stand in a queue to cast their vote during 1st phase of UP elections/ ABP LIVE

New Delhi: The editor of Jagran.com arrested after the organization published exit polls of 1^st phase of Uttar Pradesh elections. The editor was booked under violation of sec 126 of Representation of Peoples Act. Election Commission on Monday asked election officers in each of the 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh that voted on Saturday to file FIRs against the editor of Dainik Jagran after the Hindi newspaper published "online" the results of an exit poll. The commission also asked the election officers to file FIRs against the head of the surveying agency, Resource Development International (I) Pvt. Ltd. Under Election Commission instructions, exit poll results cannot be published till after the last round of elections are over. This covers even other states when polls are being held in more than one, as is the case now. It means exit poll results for Punjab, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur cannot be published till voting for the current round of elections in these five states ends on March 8 evening. The results of Saturday's exit poll were published at the end of the first phase of polls in Uttar Pradesh, which would vote over six more phases. Late last month, days ahead of the vote in Punjab and Goa, the commission had issued an order prohibiting not just dissemination of exit poll results but also the conduct of exit polls between 7am on February 4 - the first day of polling in this round of Assembly elections - and 5.30pm on March 8. Dainik Jagran staffers maintained that the results were published online and not carried in any of the paper's 37 print editions across 11 states. The publication house withdrew the report on the results from its website this morning after social media raised a stink. In its order sent to the chief electoral officer of Uttar Pradesh, the commission said the paper and the agency had violated Sections 126A and 126B of the Representation of People Act, 1951, and Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with disobeying an order promulgated by a public servant. The maximum punishment for violating Section 126A of the RP Act is jail for two years or a fine, or both. The order was issued in the afternoon and the district election officers were told to send in compliance reports by 6pm. Dainik Jagran editor-in-chief Sanjay Gupta did not respond to calls or text messages on why the publication house had chosen to push the envelope. All the major players in the western Uttar Pradesh belt that voted on Saturday have claimed a favourable verdict in the hope of creating the semblance of a wave.