Thread: Melbourne hit-and-run driver Puneet Puneet tells court he will be 'tortured' in Aust

A fugitive drunk driver who killed a man in Melbourne before escaping to India says he will face "discrimination" if he is extradited back to Australia.

Lawyers for Puneet Puneet made the comments on his behalf after appearing at Patiala House, a district court of Delhi, for a brief administrative hearing ahead of extradition proceedings later this month.

Puneet had been on the run for more than a decade over the death of Dean Hofstee in 2008.

He recently surrendered himself after an Interpol warrant was issued for his arrest.

For years, he has vigorously resisted any attempt at extradition.

He also recently told authorities he should not be in prison because he had COVID-19. They later found that to be untrue.

He is currently being held at Tihar Jail in Delhi and did not appear in court.

A member of his legal team, who declined to be named, said Puneet "must not be extradited".

"In Australia, he will face discrimination," the lawyer said.

"He will be tortured."

Puneet's legal team filed written submissions ahead of his extradition hearing at the Delhi High Court, stressing that he was an Indian national and calling for his extradition to be halted.

But Bhaskar Vali, who is the public prosecutor and will be representing the Indian government at the Delhi High Court, rejected those claims.

"That's absolutely hogwash," Mr Vali said.

"I don't know where he gets the idea that people are going to torture him. Nobody has tortured him.

"It's a baseless statement at best. We only want justice for what is right."

In September 2008, Puneet lost control of the car he was driving at 150kph and mounted a footpath in Southbank, in Melbourne's CBD.

The car spun and struck Mr Hofstee, who died. Another person, Clancy Coker, was seriously injured.

At the time, Puneet was a learner driver who was more than three times the legal blood-alcohol limit.

Victorian investigators charged the then-19-year-old with culpable driving causing death and negligently causing serious injury.

He pleaded guilty in the County Court of Victoria and his bail was extended ahead of a hearing in August 2009 where he would have come face-to-face with the families of his victims.

But Puneet never appeared. Investigators now believe he left the state months earlier on a friend's passport.

Since then, Australian officials have been fighting to extradite him.

Last month, their efforts were boosted when a district magistrate advised the Indian government to extradite the fugitive.

But that was swiftly challenged by Puneet, who convinced the Delhi High Court to temporarily shelve the order until an extradition hearing later this month.

Melbourne hit-and-run driver Puneet Puneet tells court he will be 'tortured' in Australia if extradited (msn.com)



What a larf, e'hhh. Of course, Australia has many illegal immigrants that tell us the same thing- "Don't extradite me, or I will face torture and persecution in my home country." Even if, it turns out, he was a shopkeeper from Kandy. What goes around, comes around.

Originally Posted by sabang

What goes around, comes around.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ha Ha Ha! Tortured! Someone has a vivid imagination. He may get plugged in the rear end on a daily basis...but that's not considered torture.

Originally Posted by Grumpy John

He may get plugged in the rear end on a daily basis...but that's not considered torture.

Find it pleasurable do you John.