The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday granted interim relief to Indian cricketer Yash Dayal by staying his arrest in a case involving allegations of sexual exploitation. A division bench comprising Justices Siddhartha Varma and Anil Kumar passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Dayal challenging the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against him.
The court also directed the state government to submit a counter affidavit and issued notices to the complainant, asking her to file her response in the matter.
The FIR was registered on July 6 at Indirapuram police station in Ghaziabad district under Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means. The complainant has accused 27-year-old Dayal, who currently plays for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League (IPL), of sexually exploiting her over a five-year relationship under the false pretext of marriage.
During the hearing, Dayal’s counsel contended that Section 69 of the BNS applies only when it is proven that a false promise of marriage was made without any intention of fulfilling it. He argued that the content of the FIR reveals the complainant had been in a consensual relationship with Dayal for five years and remained silent during that period.
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The counsel further alleged that the FIR had been filed with an ulterior motive shortly after Dayal’s selection in the Indian national cricket team. He claimed the complaint was intended to extort “onerous and arbitrary” demands from the cricketer. It was also submitted that Dayal had extended financial assistance to the woman during the course of the relationship and had never made any deceptive promise to marry her.
Moreover, the counsel argued that the FIR does not establish that sexual intercourse took place through deceitful means, and asserted that the complaint arose only after the relationship between the two parties deteriorated.
On the other hand, the Additional Government Advocate submitted that the complainant had clearly stated in her FIR that she was physically exploited over a sustained period. He argued that Dayal had introduced the woman to his family, which indicated he was making a false promise of marriage, thereby misleading her.
In his petition, Dayal had sought stay of his arrest in the matter as well as quashing of the FIR registered against him.
According to the complainant, the two had met around five years ago, and Dayal had promised to marry her. The woman also claimed that Dayal kept postponing her proposal to marry, and eventually, she came to know Dayal was involved with other women as well.
The complaint was initially submitted on June 21 via the chief minister`s online grievance portal (IGRS).
(With PTI inputs)
