New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday, July 15, stayed the arrest of Indian cricketer Yash Dayal in an alleged sexual exploitation case registered against him. The 27-year-old, who plays for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has been accused by a woman of sexually exploiting her on the false pretext of marriage.
The woman identified as Ujjawala Singh claimed to have been in a relationship with Dayal for five years. She alleged that during their relationship, Dayal made promises of marriage and even introduced her to his family as his wife. However, the cricketer exploited her physically and mentally after she found out about his deceitful promises and his relationships with other women.
The woman, who initially registered a complaint on the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s online grievance portal, IGRS, later registered an FIR against the cricketer. The FIR was registered against Dayal at the Indirapuram police station in Ghaziabad under section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on July 06.
During a hearing in the case on Tuesday, a bench comprising Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Anil Kumar provided interim relief to Dayal by staying his arrest in the case. The panel observed that the timeline of the alleged exploitation raises questions.
“You could have been fooled for 1 day, 2 day 3 day…but 5 years…you are entering into a relationship for 5 years…one can’t be fooled for 5 years,” observed the panel of judges during the legal proceedings on Saturday.
No arrest till next hearing
Passing an order on Dayal’s petition challenging the FIR, the division bench ruled out any coercive action against the RCB cricketer till the next hearing in the case, while also staying his arrest. Section 69 of the BNS deals with cases of sexual intercourse through deceitful means or false promises of marriage. Dayal could face a prison sentence of up to 10 years if found guilty in the case.
Dayal plays for the Uttar Pradesh team in the domestic circuit and represents RCB in the IPL. He was part of RCB’s title-winning squad in IPL 2025, where he picked up 13 wickets in 15 matches. The left-arm pacer earned his maiden India call-up up last year, but is yet to make his international debut.