CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday deferred to September 28 the hearing on a petition challenging the postponement of elections to the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA), which were due in October 2025.
Justice MS Sahoo adjourned the matter after an interlocutory application (IA) was filed seeking a stay on the proceedings before the High Court.
The IA was filed by OCA joint secretary Prabhat Kumar Bhol, invoking Section 10 of the Civil Procedure Code, which deals with parallel proceedings involving the same issue.
Senior advocate Gautam Mukherjee, appearing for Bhol, submitted that the applicability of the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 to cricket bodies is already under consideration by the Supreme Court. He sought a stay of the HC proceedings until the apex court decides the issue.
The petitioner Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, claiming to represent Cuttack-based Sunrise Club, had challenged the OCA general body’s February 22 decision to defer the elections.
The general body had cited uncertainty over the applicability of the 2025 sports governance law. The High Court has asked the petitioner to file his response to the IA, while other parties have also been given an opportunity to state their position. The IA will be considered on September 28.
The OCA’s last full-fledged elections were held in October 2022. Following the resignation of then president Pranab Prakash Das, Pankaj Lochan Mohanty was elected unopposed as president in February 2025.
The dispute over the applicability of the new law has also reached the Supreme Court. On September 8, the apex court asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and all state cricket associations why they should not come under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The top court also sought responses on whether the service terms and conditions of office-bearers of the cricket bodies should be governed by the Act.
The issue has arisen in the long-pending BCCI matter, which has been before the Supreme Court since 2014. The apex court is examining the applicability of the 2025 Act to the BCCI and its affiliated state cricket associations, including the tenure and service conditions of their office-bearers.