Nearly 700 paid news cases detected in this election

He added that media is acting as a reckless body, violating every known tenet of ethics.

But the Press Council of India said it had not received any intimation from the election authority in this regard.

"We have not received any formal report or communication from the ECI over cases of paid news. Let it come, then we will be able to review it and act over it," Punam Sibbal, deputy secretary of the Press Council of India, told IANS.

The Election Commission, on the other hand, said it was not obliged to act against the TV news channels or print media indulging in such practices.

"The media houses or publications are beyond the EC's purview. We simply forward the cases of paid news to the PCI and the News Broadcasting Standards Association," Dhirendra Ojha, Director in the EC, told IANS.