AN INDIAN man who hit and killed a pedestrian in Melbourne before fleeing the country has been released on bail in Delhi.
Puneet used a friend’s passport to escape to India in 2009 after pleading guilty to culpable driving.
He killed Dean Hofstee, 19, and injured his friend while driving drunk at 148km/h in Southbank in 2008.
Puneet, 24, was arrested in India in 2013 and jailed as Victorian authorities worked to extradite him.
Victoria Police confirmed Puneet was bailed by India’s High Court in on May 28.
The ABC reported his lawyer had claimed he had a life-threatening kidney condition.
Judge Vipin Sanghi allowed the application because Puneet’s health “does not appear to be particularly good” and because he had already been jailed for 18 months, according to the ABC.
Puneet had to pay a $4000 bond and was ordered not to leave India without permission.
Victoria Police spokeswoman Leonie Johnson said Mr Hofstee’s family had been told of the development.
“While the extradition proceedings continue, Victoria Police will not make any further comment,” Ms Johnson said.
His extradition hearing, where he could be made to come back to Australia, is due to be heard on July 9.
The government needed to act on behalf of the family, and it was “obscene” he could flee again and avoid extradition, 3AW Radio Host Neil Mitchell said.
Barrister and Associate Professor at the Monash Law Faculty Gideon Boas said despite Puneet still being a flight risk, there’s not much Australia can do about the decision to grant bail.
“Australia has no standing to appeal, India is a sovereign country,” he said.
“Behind the scenes, Australia will be communicating with Indian authorities.”
After spending nearly five years on the run, Puneet was arrested on the morning of his wedding.
He was betrayed by a friend who tipped off police after learning that Victoria Police were offering a $100,000 reward.
His mother Geeta Rani told the Herald Sun last year that her family would fight any move to extradite him to Australia.
She said that her son was not “a terrorist, nor a murderer, and we won’t let him lose this fight”.
“Mistakes happen, but that doesn’t mean they will ruin his entire life. I am not going to send my Puneet again to Australia; if they think he is guilty, punish him in India only,” Ms Rani said.
“My son will be killed in Australia. It is a racial country and Indians are not safe there.”
Puneet was studying hospitality when he climbed behind the wheel of his Holden Commodore after drinking four whiskey-and-colas at a party in Nunawading.
“My eyes were sore and they were closed and when they opened a cat came on to the road and I lost control,’’ Mr Puneet told the Herald Sun days after the crash.
He later pleaded guilty.