Lahore, Nov.14 The Lahore High Court, for the third time, has issued notices against former President General Pervz Musharraf and former Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi in connection with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination case.

Hearing a petition filed by a lawyer seeking registration of a criminal case against Musharraf and Elahi for allegedly plotting Bhutto's murder, the LHC's Rawalpindi bench directed both to respond to the notice by next month.

The court also said it would proceed with an ex-parte decision against Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Babar Awan, former director-general of Intelligence Bureau Ijaz Shah and former DCO Irfan Elahi if they did not respond to court notices despite having received them earlier, The Dawn reports.

The respondents have failed to appear before the court in person or through their counsel despite repeated warnings of the court.

Meanwhile, a separate petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court seeking directions to reopen the criminal cases Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif.

In his petition, advocates Javed Iqbal Jaferee, said criminal cases was lodged against Sharif in Dera Ghazi Khan when he was the Prime Minister, but using his influence and post he managed to get the cases closed.

The petition said that Sharif was accusing Musharraf of crimes, which he himself had committed during his tenure as prime minister. (ANI)