The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a public interest litigation seeking an investigation against several media houses for allegedly misleading stock market investors by broadcasting exit polls ahead of the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Live Law reported.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra set aside the petition filed by a man named BL Jain and called it a “political interest litigation”.

The results of the election on June 4 defied the predictions of exit polls, most of which predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance would get over 350 seats. The NDA, however, got only 292 seats, well below its 2019 figure of 353.

Stock markets plunged when the votes were counted as it became clear that the BJP would not win the majority on its own and would need the support of allies to retain power.

On that day, the Sensex fell 4,389.73 points or 5.74% at 72,079.05, and the Nifty 50 fell 1,379.40 points or 5.93% at 21,884.50 at closing.

“The government is already elected now,” Chandrachud said on Friday, according to The Hindu. “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 would handle the matter, he said, adding that the court would not run the poll panel.

In his petition, Jain claimed that the stock markets saw a sharp rise and an immediate crash on June 4 when the final results were declared. Stock markets rose after media outlets released the results of exit polls after the last phase of the Lok Sabha election ended on June 1.

This led to a purported loss of Rs 31 lakh crore to investments made by the public, he said.

Jain sought inquiries by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Securities and Exchange Board of India and Serious Fraud Investigation Office against these media houses for violating the Representation of People Act, 1951 and Election Commission norms, Live Law reported.

Two days after the counting of votes on June 4, the Opposition Congress had also questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah gave “specific investment advice” ahead of the results, and alleged that they caused losses of Rs 30 lakh crore to investors.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had called for an investigation by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into “this biggest-ever stock market scam”. The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, accused the Congress leader of trying to mislead investors.

On May 19, Modi had said in an interview to NDTV that the stock market would rise sharply in the week around the Lok Sabha election. “On June 4, the day of the Lok Sabha election results, you will see…in that week, all the stock market programmers will get tired.”

Six days earlier, Shah had also told NDTV that the stock market would surge after June 4.

“Stock market crashes should not be linked with elections, but even if such a rumour has been spread, I suggest that you buy [shares] before June 4,” the home minister had said. “It will shoot up.”