Delhi: The lawyer for runaway driver Puneet Puneet says his argument in court that the fugitive should not be extradited to Australia over a car accident nine years ago that killed nursing student Dean Hofsee is "very strong" and he is confident of winning.

After an extradition hearing on Monday at Patiala Court in New Delhi, lawyer Kanhaiya Kumar Singhal told Fairfax Media that the "racism in Australia" argument employed by the defence had been put to the judge from the very outset of the hearing and that the two friends of Puneet who testified in court had served to "strengthen the argument" considerably.

The two friends, Jayant Dagore who is now an Australian citizen and Melbourne-born designer, Anna Maria D'Annibale, told the court that if Australians were able to abuse Indians living in Australia and get away scot-free, there was no reason why Puneet would be treated differently if he was sent back to Australia.

"It was a good hearing and it went well. It's a strong argument and one that Indians are familiar with from past cases that have been covered extensively by the Indian media," Mr Singhal said.

He was referring to the spate of attacks against Indians, mainly students, in Australia in 2009 and 2010.

Puneet was charged with drink driving and killing 19-year-old Gold Coast student Dean Hofstee and seriously injuring 20-year-old Clancy Coker in Melbourne's Southbank.

The victims were hit by Puneet's car as they stood on the pavement outside their hotel on October 1, 2008. Police estimated Puneet was driving at 148km/h – more than double the legal limit in the area.

Puneet pleaded guilty to culpable driving charges at his 2009 trial at the Melbourne County Court in 2009, but he then used a friend's passport to flee Australia and return to India before a verdict was delivered.

Some years later, he was re-arrested. He spent two years in jail before being granted bail. Mr Singhal said Puneet divides his time between Delhi and nearby Panchkula in Hayana, where his parents have homes.

Mr Singhal has said Puneet suffers from "kidney problems and mental sickness" but when asked to elaborate on the ailments, he replied: "I'm not a doctor and don't have medical knowledge".

Asked if his client was being treated at a particular hospital, given the severity of his ailments, Mr Singhal said: "He used to go to a hospital but now he gets treatment at home".

Mr Singhal said he was also confident of a win because "most extradition cases in India fail".

This confidence is well-founded. India rarely succeeds in getting Indians abroad extradited and foreign governments rarely succeed in getting their nationals extradited from India.

A report in the India Times in April said the country has extradited only 44 fugitive criminals to various countries since 2002. Even when successful, the trial can take many years because of the immense backlog of cases in the Indian judicial system.