The extradition case against runaway Indian driver Puneet Puneet is underway at the Patiala District Court in New Delhi.
Puneet’s lawyer Kanhaiya Kumar Singhal told SBS Punjabi that his client is suffering from mental health issues ahead of the final hearing today.
“The matter is listed for final hearing today but we’ve moved an application under section 328 of CrPc (Code of Criminal Procedure)” he said. “He is not having (the) required mental health and he will not be able to defend himself here in India or in Australia. This is his mental health condition.”
During the previous hearings, Puneet’s kidney ailment had also been used as a defence against extradition to Australia.
Puneet fled to India using a friend’s passport in 2009 as he was facing trial over a fatal drink driving hit-and-run incident.
Puneet Puneet, who skipped bail and went to India, after he was charged for the October 2008 incident in Melbourne in which Dean Hoffstee was killed. Source: File image
Nineteen-year-old Gold Coast nursing student Dean Hofstee was killed and 20-year-old Clancy Coker was seriously injured when they were allegedly hit by a vehicle driven by Puneet in Southbank in Melbourne on October 1, 2008.
Police said he was over the legal alcohol limit and was estimated to be driving at 148 km/h. He pleaded guilty to culpable driving offences.
Puneet’s lawyer Kanhaiya Singhal said earlier that he was confident of a favourable outcome for his client because not many extradition cases succeed in Indian courts.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews had termed Puneet Puneet a "coward" during his visit to India in January.
“I will let people judge for themselves the character of the individual who runs instead of facing up to the consequences of what he may or may not have done. Hiding on the other side of the world — that’s a pretty cowardly act,” he said.
After fleeing to India in 2009, Puneet hid for more than four years until his arrest in Panipat, Haryana. He remained in jail for two years before being granted bail.
