New Delhi, Apr 6 (IANS): The Election Commission on Saturday barred publishing of political advertisements in print media on polling day and the day before in all seven phases of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls unless the contents of such advertisements are pre-certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC).

The poll panel said the direction was issued in exercise of its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution in order to ensure "no untoward incident takes place because of any inflammatory, misleading or hate advertisement".

It said that instances of advertisements of "offending and misleading nature published in print media have been brought to the notice of the Commission in the past" and that such advertisements in the last stage of the election "vitiate the entire election process".

"The affected candidates and parties will not have any opportunity of providing clarification/rebuttal in such a scenario," it said.

Electronic media is already barred from broadcasting election publicity material during the last 48 hours before conclusion of polling.