• Justice Agha Faisal rules commission’s ToRs do not permit intervention; advises Muttahida to submit their information via email
• Leased in 1883, Gul Plaza plot was sold to a private firm in 1983, says municipal commissioner
KARACHI: While turning down an application of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) seeking to become a party in the proceedings, the Gul Plaza Judicial Commission on Monday recorded the testimonies of the municipal commissioner and various other officials in the Gul Plaza inferno probe.
As per the terms of reference (ToR), the single-member commission headed by Justice Agha Faisal of the Sindh High Court noted that the party could not become an intervener in these proceedings.
However, it advised the lawyer for the MQM-P to submit the information through email after the counsel asserted that the party has knowledge of some crucial facts and circumstances pertaining to the devastating fire incident.
The commission recorded the statements of the municipal commissioner, two police officials, the Civil Defence director, the president of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), a representative of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and a journalist.
Justice Agha Faisal rules commission’s ToRs do not permit intervention; advises Muttahida to submit their information via email
At the outset of the hearing, Advocate Tariq Mansoor submitted that the MQM-P has filed an application to become an intervener in these proceedings as the party was willing to provide information and crucial facts to the commission about the deadly inferno.
Justice Agha observed that the application could not be entertained as the ToRs of the commission have not allowed anybody to become an intervener in such proceedings.
However, he asked the counsel for the MQM-P to provide the information/data, if any, to the commission through an email. The lawyer replied that the information/data has been emailed to the commission.
Thereafter, the senior party leader Dr Farooq Sattar, who was also present along with another senior party leader Nasreen Jalil during the proceedings, attempted to address the commission.
However, Justice Agha asked him that he was disturbing the proceedings, and the commission would hear him after the hearing.
Municipal commissioner Sumera Hussain deposed that the plot of the ill-fated building was leased out in 1883 to the East India Company for tram services, and later, the company had sold out the same to five individuals who had handed over to the land to one Anwar Ali in 1976, and he had sold the plot to a private firm, Jeneka Group in, 1983.
When the bench asked about the purpose of the lease, she replied that the relevant documents were silent about it.
She also testified that the fire brigade department was under the administrative control of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC). Responding to another question of the commission about the training and performance of the fire crew, she said that there was always room for improvement as the fire brigade was facing a shortage of manpower and a request was also made to the government for the purchase of equipment.
The municipal commissioner further said that the audit of Gul Plaza was carried out and that some of its recommendations were implemented.
‘Civil Defence lacks manpower to inspect all buildings’
Civil Defence Director Abdul Hameed deposed that the deputy commissioner (DC) had formed a committee in 2023 about Gul Plaza, and the body had also made its recommendations.
About a query regarding the inspection of all buildings, he said that the Civil Defence has lacked manpower and resources, and therefore, inspection was carried out randomly on a yearly basis.
When the commission asked him whether any action was taken for not implementing the recommendations made during an audit in 2025 about Gul Plaza, he replied that the DC concerned and the controller of Civil Defence could tell about the punishment or fine.
The director was also unaware of the issuance of the safety certificate to the building in question and said that the district committee would be in a better position to answer such questions.
SSP-City Arif Aziz deposed that four of the 17 gates of the ill-fated building were opened when the fire erupted. He was of the view that the watchmen, hired by the association of the building, were managing these entrance points and all such points had to be opened after the blaze.
When the commission confronted him about the CCTV footage, he replied that apart from the basement, the CCTV record was destroyed in the fire.
The SSP also stated that, as per initial information, a child of a shopkeeper was playing with matchsticks when the fire suddenly broke out, and it spread sharply as inflammable material was available in the building.
SSP Traffic Aijaz Ahmed informed the commission that the city’s traffic police have the strength of only 5,200 personnel, and traffic personnel were called in from the surrounding areas shortly after the incident to make way for fire tenders.
He said that there was some disturbance on the M. A. Jinnah Road as the work was underway on a project about the extension of the Green Line.
KCCI president Rehan Hanif deposed that 11 committees have been constituted to consider and confirm the claims of shopkeepers of Gul Plaza.
He said that there were over 1200 shops in the gutted building, and around 850 claims were received and out of them 786 were admitted, three were rejected and the remaining claims were still under consideration due to some disputes.
Mansoor Shaikh, an officer of SSGC, said that four gas connections were provided to Gul Plaza, including two commercial and one each industrial and domestic, as the industrial connection was cut off in November. He was of the view that there was a gas loadshedding in the building when the fire erupted.
Adjourning the hearing till Feb 25, the commission also handed over questionnaires to the police officers about investigation & evidence, coordination & accountability, traffic management & access and provision of required documents.
Sattar alleges KE illegally set up gas turbine in basement
Meanwhile, speaking at a press conference, Dr Sattar was of the view that K-Electric had illegally installed a gas turbine and cylinders in the basement of Gul Plaza, one of the busiest commercial centres of the city, turning the entire area into a pile of explosive and why the provincial government was silent on such grave violations.
He claimed that they have approached the judicial commission as the party has evidence against corruption of the provincial government, irregularities in the construction of Gul Plaza building and inordinate delay in putting out the fire.
Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2026
