This follows a request by a court-assigned lawyer who was only appointed last week.

Counsel M Manoharan said he needed time to read the appeal records in preparation for the case.

“I request a short adjournment to download the documents to be put on paper,” he said.

There were no objections from deputy public prosecutor Dusuki Mokhtar, representing the prosecution, or from the lawyers appearing for the other appellants.

A three-member bench chaired by Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail agreed to a short adjournment.

“This is the final postponement,” the judge said, adding that the hearing will be held on Dec 4, 7 and 14.

Justices Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Azmi Ariffin were also on the bench.

Manoharan acts for R Dinishwaran; N Sivananthan for former military doctor R Kunaseegaran; Kitson Foong for S Ravi Chandran; Burhanudeen Abdul Wahid for AK Thinesh Kumar; Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi for M Vishwanath; and Amer Hamzah Arshad for S Nimalan.

The High Court sentenced the six men to death on July 10, 2020, after they were found guilty of murdering Morais on Sept 4, 2015 somewhere between Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, and Subang Jaya in Selangor.

Morais, 55, had been reported missing on Sept 4, 2015, and was last seen leaving his apartment at Menara Duta in Kuala Lumpur in his official car.

His body was found in an oil drum filled with cement at Persiaran Subang Mewah, Subang Jaya, 12 days later.

In his decision, High Court judge Azman Abdullah (now a Court of Appeal judge) held that all the six men had a common intention to kill Morais.

He said the defence had failed to raise a reasonable doubt as to their involvement in the murder.