Penang:The High Court today adjourned the defence proceedings of four men charged with the murder of teenager T. Nhaveen to tomorrow.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the defence requested an adjournment as more time was needed to follow up on the delivery of four witness statements to the prosecution. Judge Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid granted the request and scheduled the proceedings to resume at 9.30 am the next day.

Counsel Maanveer Singh Dhillon, representing the four accused, explained that the defence had limited time to meet them in prison to prepare the witness statements, which were finalized and ready for delivery to the prosecution.

He also noted that the prosecution required time to examine the statements before the defence proceedings could continue. Deputy public prosecutors Mohd Amri Johari and Yazid Mustaqim Roslan represented the prosecution, while counsel Maanveer Singh, R. Thevan, and Lim Sheng Zhe represented the four accused.

On July 3, the High Court had scheduled the defence trial dates for October 7 to 9 and 12 to 16. This development followed the Court of Appeal's decision, which ordered J. Ragesuthan, 27, S. Gokulan, 27, and two others, who were juveniles at the time of the incident, to enter their defence on the murder charge after overturning a previous High Court decision to acquit them.

The accused face charges under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder and Section 326 for voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons, concerning the incident involving Nhaveen, 18, at the same location, date, and time. The case was remitted to the Penang High Court for the defence stage.

Additionally, the four were ordered to enter their defence on charges of injuring Nhaveen's friend, T. Previin, near the Karpal Singh Learning Centre on Jalan Kaki Bukit, Gelugor, between 11 pm and midnight on June 9, 2017. Nhaveen succumbed to severe injuries on June 15, 2017, after six days of treatment at Penang Hospital.