The judicial commission constituted to investigate the Gul Plaza fire tragedy has asked legal heirs of ill-fated shopping mall victims to attend the commission’s pre-scheduled hearing on February 16 at the District South deputy commissioner’s (DC) office.
A single-member commission of inquiry headed by Justice Agha Faisal observed that it was paramount to initiate the task by hearing the legal heirs of the fire victims prior to scheduled hearings for other persons affected or concerned with the tragedy.
The commission requested the legal heirs of the victims to attend the hearing scheduled for February 16 at 11am at the South DC Office.
It is pertinent to mention that the commission has advised the citizens concerned to submit their ID card, email address and mobile phone number along with the statement.
The commission was notified by the home department on February 10 to probe the fire incident, which left 79 people dead last month.
Under the terms of reference, the inquiry commission shall examine if the building approvals and lease extensions by the Sindh Building Control Authority, its predecessor organisations and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation were in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. It will assess if the construction of the Gul Plaza was in violation of the approved building plan leading to difficulty in evacuation of people.
The commission will also assess arrangements in place at the Gul Plaza building for fire prevention, detection and firefighting by the building management as required under applicable laws and safety regulations. It will assess if the building management or any government department/agency had carried out fire safety audits and whether the recommendations were implemented by the building management.
It will also ascertain the causes and circumstances leading to the fire incident. The inquiry commission will examine and evaluate rescue operations for adequacy and swiftness, and fix responsibility for any acts of commission or omission committed prior to and subsequent to the incident. The commission will complete the inquiry within eight weeks.
At least 79 people lost their lives while 1,100 shops were gutted in the fire. Opposition parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islam, rejected the initial findings of the investigation committee under the Karachi commissioner and demanded a judicial inquiry by a judge of the high court.
