Lawyers for Indian national Puneet Puneet, who fatally ran over an Australian student, have told his extradition hearing there was "continuous contact" from the Australian High Commission in India during Puneet's mental assessment.
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Khaniya Kumar Singhal told the Patiala Court in Delhi there were phone calls placed to the hospital assessing Puneet during the five days he was under the care of doctors at the Institute of Human, Behavioural and Applied Sciences (IHBAS) in the Indian capital.
Lawyers on behalf of the Indian government denied the allegations, demanding they should be retracted. The Australian government said it does not comment on active legal proceedings.
Judge Gurmohina Kaur admonished both sides during the latest hearing into the extradition of Puneet, who pleaded guilty to culpable driving over the death of Queensland student Dean Hofstee, and fled Australia using a friend's passport in 2009.
"I want to make it clear to everyone in this room that the basic trust of this case is being distorted", she said.
"I am dealing with a sensitive case here, one involving human rights, and I call for you all to stop making allegations against each other."
Judge Kaur was hearing arguments over why Puneet's mental assessment was delayed after Puneet was admitted but then withdrawn, with defence lawyers arguing that he had been placed in the "jail section" at the hospital.
Dr Om Parvesh, a psychiatric consultant at IHBAS, said there had been a great deal of confusion over the case and the patient and his relatives had shown "impatience" over the evaluation. The court was also told there was no official "jail section" at IHBAS.
Judge Kaur ordered Puneet be assessed in a 10-day period in order to get to the crux of whether he is mentally fit for further proceedings.
"I just want a straight answer", she said. "Everyone seems to have some excuse why we can't answer the question - is this man mentally fit or not?"
Puneet was in court - with two uncles - dressed in a green and blue shirt, jeans, and blue flip-flops.
A learner driver at the time of the accident, Puneet was travelling at 150km/h with a blood alcohol reading of 0.165 when he lost control of his car and hit Hofstee.
Previously, the defence had said Puneet suffered from kidney problems, schizophrenia, weight loss, at one point drank poison, and is possibly still suicidal due to his "fragile state of mind".
The next hearing is due on October 23.
Australian Associated Press
