Eyewitness accounts, inconsistencies in Puneet Puneet's statements and violation of bail conditions form evidence to extradite him to Australia, prosecutors have told a New Delhi court.
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Puneet was a 19-year-old learner driver in 2008 when he killed Queensland students Dean Hofstee while travelling at 150km/h with a blood alcohol reading of 0.165.
Final arguments in the drawn-out extradition hearing began on Friday with Bhaskar Vali, representing the Union of India, which handles extradition matters, detailing the manner in which Puneet jumped his bail conditions to flee Australia.
Vali told the court that Puneet was granted bail in 2008 by a Melbourne Magistrates Court on certain conditions - that he wouldn't leave Victoria, would not drive a motor vehicle and would have to surrender his passport.
Yet, in 2009, Puneet fled to India on the passport of his friend Sukhcharanjit Singh.
Vali told the court that, in his statement to the police investigator, Singh claimed that Puneet "duped" him.
Puneet, Singh said, told him that he would get him a credit card and took away his passport. Two days later, when Singh asked for it, Puneet said he'd give it the following day. A few days later when Singh again asked Puneet about his passport, he claimed he was drunk and had lost the document.
Vali also cited the testimony of David Armstrong, a truck driver who was witness to incident. Armstrong said he saw Puneet's sedan drive at a "furious speed" and thought that "the driver was on a suicide mission".
Prior to the accident, Puneet was attending a dinner hosted by his friend Nishant Rawal. In his statements to the police Puneet said that he had consumed four standard measures of scotch whisky with coke at the dinner.
He also claimed that he was driving at "not more than 100km/h" and that he lost control when a black cat ran across his vehicle. However, Vali pointed out that later, Puneet said he'd consumed light beer and black label whisky. The alcohol level found in his body was 0.165 - beyond the legal limit of 0.05.
Kanhaiya Kumar Singhal, Puneet's lawyer, did not present arguments on Friday. He said he would do so at the next hearing.
Justice Gurmohina Kaur set February 16 as the next date of the hearing and added that no adjournments would be sought in the matter.
Australian Associated Press
