Karachi (Web Desk): The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday assigned Justice Agha Faisal to lead an official investigation into the tragic fire at Karachi’s Gul Plaza.
The provincial administration wrote a letter to the SHC CJ requesting a probe into the incident.
The catastrophe occurred late on the night of January 17, when an intense fire broke out in Gul Plaza, a multi-storey building situated on MA Jinnah Road. The flames, said to have started on the ground floor, spread rapidly throughout the structure.
At least 80 people lost their lives in the inferno, many others were injured, and several victims remain unidentified due to the severity of the burns
The incident has since stirred political unrest in the city. Various quarters have demanded federal involvement or even military supervision, along with a transparent judicial probe.
The tragedy has also sparked a bitter blame game between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which holds power in Sindh
Amid growing pressure, the provincial government announced last week that it would establish a judicial commission to investigate the causes and circumstances of the disaster.
Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon stated that the high court would be approached to nominate a serving judge for the task, adding that the move to form the commission was not taken at the urging of any political party.
In a formal communication issued on Wednesday, the registrar of the Sindh High Court informed the provincial home secretary that Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput had appointed Justice Agha Faisal as the head of the single-member commission. The timeframe for the inquiry will be set and officially notified by the Sindh government.
The letter further explained that the decision to consider the provincial government’s request was made under Section 3 of the Sindh Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance, 1969, which outlines the legal procedure for constituting such investigative bodies.