ISLAMABAD, May 20 -- A Pakistani court on Tuesday morning summoned 16 politicians including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for keeping their assets abroad to appear before court next month, local media reported.

According to the reports, The Lahore High Court started hearing of the case on Tuesday morning and ordered the 16 politicians including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and former President Asif Ali Zardari to appear before the court in person on June 16 to submit their reply.

The court order the respondents to submit their written reply with all details of their assets present inside the country and abroad.

Earlier on May 9, the court issued a notice to the federal government and at least 64 politicians on a petition seeking directions for the politicians to bring their foreign assets back to Pakistan.

The petition was filed in 1996 by a lawyer Javed Iqbal Jafri against 26 politicians but later more names were added to it. The petition stated that the respondent politicians had transferred at least 300 billion U.S. dollars to foreign countries through money laundering, causing a huge loss to the national exchequer.

The petitioner pleaded the court to order the politicians to bring back their assets for the national interest.

The court during the Tuesday hearing noted that the country's all financial problems would be solved and it would need not to seek foreign loans if some 200 U.S. dollars from these assets of the politicians were brought back to the country.

Earlier on May 9, Pakistan's federal finance minister Ishaq Dar had told the National Assembly (the Lower House) that Pakistanis, mostly politicians, had 200 billion U.S. dollars in Swiss banks.

The court also stated that it would order to publish notices in the national newspapers against the respondents who will not appear before the court.