Melbourne hit-and-run driver Puneet Puneet’s lawyer has claimed that his client’s request to Victoria’s Attorney-General, for a maximum two-year jail sentence in exchange for his return to Australia, was being ‘discussed’ by authorities in Australia.
Defence counsel Kanhaiya Kumar Singhal, said that he had not yet received any confirmation from the Australian government, the AAP reported.
"It will take a matter of time, but we know there are discussions in Australia", Mr Singhal told reporters outside a Delhi court on Monday.
He further clarified that this would not mean that the extradition demand would be dropped, “as that would technically be grounds for surrender.”
“But opposing parties could well sit down and negotiate,” Mr Singhal added.
In the court, Mr Singhal argued that Puneet did not have any "motive" or "forethought" to commit the crime and claimed that his client was being tried for murder rather than a drink-driving accident.
"Even a terrorist has a motive when he blows something up", Mr Singhal said in the court.
"Though maybe I shouldn't be quoted as saying that as the media is here.
"But the point is my client did not have any motive or forethought to make this a culpable homicide as opposed to a tragic accident," he added.
Earlier this month, the 30-year-old’s lawyer had declared that Puneet would surrender to the Australian authorities if they guaranteed him a lenient sentence and his safety in jail.
“Let the government of Australia give us an offer that he will be sentenced to a maximum of two years and surety of his safe life in jail. He will immediately surrender," Mr Singhal had said in an interview with the Herald Sun.
In response to Mr Singhal’s conditions, Victoria's acting Attorney-General Gavin Jennings had said that the court would determine a suitable punishment for Puneet.
“Puneet Puneet needs to return to Victoria to face the consequences of his actions, and we won't rest until justice is served," Mr Jennings had told Herald Sun.
Background:
Puneet was allegedly drunk when the car he was driving in Melbourne crashed into two pedestrians, both students from Queensland. He was a 19-year-old learner driver at the time of the incident.
The crash killed 19-year-old student Dean Hofstee and injured another friend, 20-year-old Clancy Coker, on a fatal night in October 2008.
Police at the time said he was over the legal alcohol limit and was estimated to be driving at 148 km/h. Puneet later pleaded guilty to culpable driving offences in Magistrates Court in Melbourne in 2008.
He was later granted bail on conditions that he wouldn't travel outside Victoria, would not drive and would surrender his passport.
But despite these conditions, Puneet managed to flee to India in 2009 using his friend Sukhcharanjit Singh’s passport. However, he was arrested four years later, on his wedding day.
Puneet’s extradition trial:
Over the past five years, Mr Singhal has made multiple attempts to stop his client’s extradition to Melbourne, prolonging the anguish of the families of the accident victims, who want him to face justice in Australia.
Apart from not showing up in the court twice, the lawyer has made various claims against his client’s extradition including Puneet’s mental and physical health.
In a previous hearing in February this year, Mr Singhal told the court that Australia wants to have him extradited for ‘political reasons.’
"This extradition is being called only for political reasons and to give benefit to Victoria's politicians. Puneet is being targeted for this reason and this reason alone," Mr Singhal had argued in the court, reported AAP.
The next hearing in the case has been set for August 13.
Listen to SBS Punjabi Monday to Friday at 9 pm. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
