D Maharaj, 36, B Shanmugaservai, 34, Faezatun Firus Arifin, 42, R Praveena, 31, and S Suvipra, 34, pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to them before magistrate Uthman Abd Ghani.

They were jointly accused of causing the death of the 38-year-old man by negligence at a hotel in Port Dickson at 2am on July 13, reported Harian Metro.

The charge was framed under Section 304A of the Penal Code, read with Section 34 of the same Act.

If found guilty, they are liable to a punishment of up to two years’ imprisonment, or a fine, or both.

Deputy public prosecutor Nadia Ezzati Zainal appeared for the prosecution. Maharaj, Shanmugaservai, Faezatun and Suvipra were represented by lawyer Wan Shahir Azmir Wan Razi, while Praveena was represented by Shamsul Sulaiman.

Nadia Ezzati asked the court to set bail at RM8,000 in one surety for each of the accused.

However, Wan Shahir requested a lower bail, citing his four clients’ individual responsibilities.

Uthman set bail at RM4,000 each in one surety.

In the same court, the five men pleaded not guilty to a second charge of consuming drugs in the form of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) at the Port Dickson police headquarters at about 1am on July 14.

The court set bail of RM2,000 for each of them and set Sept 3 for case re-mention.