This statement by EC counsel Harish Salve was recorded by the Supreme Court today during the hearing of an application by EC for transfer of two petitions pending in the Delhi and Rajasthan High Courts challenging a similar notification issued in February this year during the general election.

A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice A S Anand and Justice M Srinivasan, allowed the EC application for transfer of the High Court cases to the Supreme Court after the counsel for the petitioners in the high courts said they had no objection to the matter being heard by the apex court.

Salve said "EC is going to issue similar guidelines for the November poll. I am placing it on record so that there is no controversy over constitutional propriety."

The EC notification banning the opinion and exit polls waschallenged in the Delhi High Court by the magazine Frontline through its editor N Ram. The High Court had issued notice to the Commission.

EC asks Rajasthan, MP to seal borders

For the first time, the Commission directed Andhra Pradesh government to seal its border with Madhya Pradesh and take security measures keeping in view the naxalite menace.

The Commission directed Uttar Pradesh and Haryana Governments to seal their borders with Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to prevent ``goonda elements'' getting across to interfere. It also wanted preventive action in these two states in the border districts and sought weekly reports.