Apex court junks plea seeking to do away with exit polls

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a PIL seeking to do away with exit polls, saying it can’t be expected to run the affairs of the Election Commission.

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“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 Election Commission will handle it and we will not run the Election Commission. This is a clear case of political interest litigation,” a Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud said dismissing a PIL filed by one BL Jain.

It also dismissed a PIL seeking the establishment of video conference facilities for virtual hearing in all district courts across India.

“We cannot lay down one-size-fits-all solutions. The country is too large and complex to lay down such directions. These issues are being looked at in phase 3 of e-courts and an ongoing project of technological revolution. But there cannot be judicial directions,” the CJI said.

The CJI-led Bench dismissed yet another PIL seeking enforcement of a compliance rating mechanism under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), saying it didn’t want to run the GST administration.

“This is a matter for Parliament. Let us not use the PIL jurisdiction for this. The PIL is for crucial issues of human rights...the moment you see a good issue in newspapers and you say ‘chalo’ file a PIL,” it said, dismissing Pradeep Goyal’s PIL.

The top court also dismissed a PIL seeking toilet facilities for cricketers in stadiums across Mumbai. “What kind of a PIL is this? If cricketers have problems, they will come to us? Are you predominantly a cricketer or an advocate,” a Bench led by Justice Abhay S Oka said, dismissing RR Tiwari’s PIL.

Notice to Chanda, husband on CBI plea

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to former ICICI Bank CEO-cum-MD Chanda Kochhar and her businessman husband Deepak Kochhar on the CBI’s petition challenging the Bombay High Court’s order declaring their arrest as “illegal”. A Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna asked them to respond to the CBI’s petition against the Bombay High Court’s February order upholding the interim bail granted to the couple in January 2023.