Jaipur, Jan 23 (NationPress) The Rajasthan High Court, on Friday, provided interim protection from arrest to IPL star and Royal Challengers Bengaluru fast bowler Yash Dayal regarding a rape allegation. Justice Ganeshram Meena issued this ruling while reviewing Dayal's anticipatory bail request, instructing him to meet with the investigating officer (IO) by January 30.

An FIR has been filed against Dayal at the Sanganer police station in Jaipur. Dayal's attorney, Chandrashekhar Sharma, informed the court that during the last hearing, the court had ordered the IO to present the case diary. The IO complied and was present in court on Friday.

The defense argued that the FIR was lodged almost two years after the alleged occurrence and assured the court of their complete cooperation during the investigation. Following these discussions, the court granted the interim protection from arrest.

It should be noted that Dayal sought the intervention of the High Court after his anticipatory bail plea was denied by the POCSO court.

According to Dayal's lawyer, the cricketer consistently met the complainant in public spaces and in the company of other team members. The defense contended that they never met alone in private settings.

Furthermore, it was argued that the complainant never indicated that she was under 18 years old during their interactions, nor did the FIR state that she was a minor at the time of the alleged incident.

The defense also raised questions about why, if the alleged rape occurred in Kanpur, the complainant continued to travel with the petitioner to various cities afterward, noting that this detail was not clarified in the FIR. Additionally, they pointed out that the Jaipur case was filed eight days after the complainant received relief from the Allahabad High Court in a rape case filed in Uttar Pradesh.

Yash Dayal has been implicated in an FIR alleging a series of sexual assaults in 2023 on a minor from Jaipur, shortly after a rape complaint was made against him in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, by a woman who accused him of exploitation.

The former SHO Anil Kumar Jaiman of the Sanganer Sadar police station confirmed the cricketer's identity based on the FIR filed under Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which mandates a minimum imprisonment of 10 years, alongside relevant sections of the POCSO Act.

The complaint alleged that Dayal, a fast bowler for the IPL-winning franchise RCB, raped the then-17-year-old survivor initially in 2023 and again in a hotel in Jaipur.

“It is claimed that around two years ago, when the complainant was a minor, he raped her on multiple occasions under the pretense of assisting her cricket career,” Jaiman had stated earlier. “This year, he contacted her again while in Jaipur for IPL duty, inviting her to his hotel and allegedly raping her there,” he added.