Bangalore: The Supreme Court has refused to cancel the arrest warrant which was issued against Subhash Chandra Kapoor, a US-based Indian antique dealer. He is involved in a case of theft of 18 idols from Varadarajaperumal temple of Tamil Nadu and is now undergoing proceedings for exile from Germany to India.

U U Lalit, senior advocate of Kapoor told H L Gokhale and Ranjana P Desai, a bench of justices that the investigating agency was trying to associate Kapoor’s visit to Chennai in the year 2006 to the robbery which happened two years later.

According to Lalit, the investigating agency did not take any measure till kapoor went on a business trip to Germany, previous year. There he was detained as per the Red Corner Notice. Lalit also says that Kapoor is already facing exile proceedings and issuing a non-bailable warrant against him is of pointless. Apart from this, six other people involved in the case are out on bail.

Lalit requested the court to cancel the NBW (non-bailable warrant) and also added that Kapoor would be presented before the investigating agency once he returns to the country.

But the bench said, "You are a north Indian while all other accused are from the south. Why would they take your name during the questioning by police? The business you have in New York has some nexus with the case. In this situation, we cannot grant any relief."