Rawalpindi, Dec. 11 (ANI): The Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench has ordered ex-parte proceedings against Former President Pervez Musharraf, former Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and former minister General (retired) Hamid Nawaz after they failed to appear before the court during the hearing of a petition seeking registration of a criminal conspiracy case in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

The court has adjourned the hearing till January 20,2010, The Daily Times reports.

The petition has been filed by one Chaudhry Mehmood Aslam, who claims to have served as Bhutto’s protocol officer.

Aslam, through his petition, has demanded that a criminal conspiracy case should be registered against Musharraf, Elahi, former Intelligence Bureau (IB) director general Ijaz Shah and Interior Minister Rehman Malik for plotting Bhutto’s murder.

Aslam claimed that he had witnessed Bhutto’s assassination and the above-mentioned people were ‘involved in planning, preparing and executing the conspiracy to kill the former prime minister in connivance with some “hidden hands”. (ANI)