The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the Madras High Court's September 8 order directing the Centre to take custody of alleged international art trafficker Subash Chandra Kapoor from Tiruchirappalli Central Prison and proceed in accordance with law for returning him to Germany, ANI reported.

Source: LatestLY (ANI)

A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan stayed the operation of the High Court judgment, which had allowed a habeas corpus petition filed by Kapoor. The stay puts the High Court's direction on hold for now. The appeal before the Supreme Court was filed by petitioner and temple devotee S. Vijay Narayanan, acting as next friend and custodian of the deities, ANI reported.

Why the High Court ordered his return

The High Court had held that Kapoor's continued detention in India in connection with other offences allegedly committed before his extradition from Germany could not be sustained without the consent of the German authorities. It examined the issue under Article 19 of the India-Germany Extradition Treaty, which incorporates the rule of speciality, and Section 21 of the Extradition Act, 1962, and noted that Germany had expressly declined a proposed extension of prosecution.

Kapoor, a United States citizen, was extradited from Germany to India on July 13, 2012, in connection with an idol theft case registered at Udayarpalayam Police Station in Tamil Nadu. He was convicted in that case by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kumbakonam, on November 1, 2022, and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. The High Court noted that, after set-off for the period already undergone, that sentence stood completed, with the custody certificate recording February 22, 2023 as the date of release for that conviction.

Source: Devdiscourse (ANI)

The State and intervenors had argued before the High Court that the other cases against Kapoor were interconnected and formed part of a larger continuing conspiracy involving the theft and trafficking of antique temple idols, and stressed the serious nature of the allegations. The High Court held that the gravity of the allegations could not substitute for the consent required under the treaty and the Extradition Act. Those other allegations remain allegations, and Kapoor's legal position in them is now subject to the Supreme Court proceedings following Tuesday's stay.