Jagran.com Editor Arrested for Publishing UP Exit Poll Results

On Monday, the EC had ordered an FIR against the publication and the polling agency for violating the poll code.

The paper violated EC norms. (Photo: The Quint)

Dainik Jagran’s online editor Shekhar Tripathi was reportedly arrested late Monday night for poll code violation by Ghaziabad police. The Election Commission had ordered an FIR against the editors and management of the publication on Monday.

The daily violated EC norms by publishing an exit poll on their English website conducted by a company by the name of Resource Development International (RDI) Pvt Ltd, after the first phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh.

The poll panel has directed the District Election Officers of the state's districts covered under the first phase of elections on 11 February and Lucknow to immediately register cases against the managements of RDI and Dainik Jagran as well as the newspaper's Editor-in-Chief under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) read with Section 126-A and 126-B of the Representation of People Act.

The offence under Section 126-A is punishable by imprisonment for up to two years or fine or both.

Newspaper Says ‘Inadvertently’ Published Results Online

On Monday, the newspaper said news about the exit poll was published inadvertently on its English website and it was immediately removed after being detected by senior officials of the group.

In a statement, the newspaper said:

It may be clarified that except for the digital English platform, no news item attributing to exit poll was published in <i>Dainik Jagran</i> newspaper.