Headlines
Indian too ill for extradition, Aussie court told
Melbourne, June 29
The lawyer for an Indian
man who fled Australia after killing a student in a Melbourne
hit-and-run said he will use his client's serious medical condition to
fight any extradition.
Puneet was allegedly drunk and driving at
148 km per hour when he hit and killed 19-year-old student Dean Hofstee
and seriously injured 20-year-old Clancy Coker in 2008, ABC reported on
Monday.
Puneet pleaded guilty to culpable driving and negligently
causing serious injury. But in 2009 while on bail awaiting sentencing,
he left Australia using his friend's passport.
He was on the run
for four years before being arrested in the Indian city of Patiala in
2013 and was imprisoned awaiting extradition.
He was released on
bail last month based on a medical report that said he was suffering
from the potentially life-threatening kidney condition
glomerulonephritis.
"What is the purpose of taking him (from)
India to Australia... and there also he is admitted in the hospital?"
Puneet's lawyer Kanhaiya Singhal said. He said Puneet was being treated
in a Delhi hospital.
According to his jail records, Puneet was
suffering from the illness before he was jailed and his condition did
not improve despite treatment.
Prosecution sources have told the
ABC it would be very difficult to challenge the order that granted the
defendant bail and they were focusing their efforts on the extradition
proceedings.
As part of his bail, Puneet is required to appear at future extradition hearings.
The
lawyer said his client would appear if his health permits as he does
not want to avoid justice. "He is not going to run away," Singhal said.
"He will face the trial, face the extradition hearing till the end."
Singhal
said Puneet was willing to face trial in India, where the penalty for
culpable driving is two years in prison. In Australia it is a maximum of
20 years.