NEW DELHI: The Bombay high court on Monday stayed the elections to the apex council of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) that were scheduled for Tuesday, after raising questions over the induction of around 400 new members, including relatives of the incumbent president and NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar.A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad observed that the manner in which the new members were admitted gave a “prima-facie impression that everything was done in a hot haste.”The order was passed on a group of petitions alleging that Supreme Court norms governing sports body elections were violated and that favouritism was shown while adding names to the voters’ list released on December 25, 2025.According to the petitions, the new members include Rohit Pawar’s wife Kunti and his father-in-law Satish Magar, as well as NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule’s daughter Revati.The petitioners, including former India cricketer Kedar Jadhav, claimed that several of the newly inducted members had no link with cricket and were added to allow a few individuals to run the MCA as a private body.The election process was challenged as “illegal”, with the petitioners alleging “erroneous” inclusion of more than 400 voters in the draft voter list.“Many of the new members are related to the president and other office-bearers who are at the helm of affairs,” the Bombah high court noted.The bench also recorded that existing members were not given a chance to raise objections and were denied access to the minutes of the Apex Council meeting and the Annual General Meeting.In light of allegations of illegality, arbitrariness and nepotism, the court said it was entitled to examine the decision-making process behind the induction of the new members. It also expressed concern over large-scale admissions just before elections, noting that the induction of 400 members would affect the electoral outcome.“In the circumstances of the case, this Court cannot adopt a hands-off stand and permit the elections scheduled on January 6 to continue. The high court should not permit the illegality to be perpetuated,” the division bench said, directing the electoral officer not to proceed with the polls until further orders.The matter will be heard next on February 4.The court also referred to the stated objectives of the MCA, including improving cricket standards in the state, framing policies and building international-standard stadiums. It said it was debatable whether a person could become a life member only on the basis of financial donations.Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the MCA, submitted that the newly inducted members had contributed large sums towards cricket and that the association’s rules do not require members to be cricketers or directly associated with the sport.