A single-member commission of inquiry headed by Justice Agha Faisal has concluded its inquiry over deadly blaze at the Gul Plaza after recording the statements of eyewitnesses, legal heirs and government officials, and examining the evidence.
The inquiry report will be handed over to the Sindh law department on April 7. The commission was constituted on February 10 to scrutinise the devastating inferno at Gul Plaza shopping center as per terms of reference of the inquiry, to probe the cause of fire and examine failures in the rescue operation, and fix the responsibility.
The devastating fire at the decades-old famous shopping centre of the city raised serious questions over buildings safety standards in the country’s financial hub. The decision for constitution of inquiry came following rights bodies and political parties’ outrage over the inability of city’s rescue work service, poor safety standards in multi-storey buildings and non-implementation of laws for high-rise buildings in Karachi.
The family members of the fire victims criticised the government for not doing timely rescue operation and told the inquiry commission that an effective rescue, evacuation and fire extinguishing operation could have saved the lives of persons trapped in the building.
Sending a letter to the law secretary, the registrar of the commission, Iqbal Hassan Khatti, intimated that the commission had concluded its inquiry and sought to submit its report to the government.
He informed that the report was accompanied by four additional volumes, comprising entire record of the commission and upon which the report is rested. He said the report, along with the entire record, had been duly sealed and shall be entrusted to the law department.
The registrar of the commission said that it shall be prerogative of the government of the Sindh to determine whether the same was brought into public domain and if so then the timing thereof. The registrar had asked the law secretary to receive the formal handing over of the inquiry report at 12pm on April 7 at the Gul Plaza commission of inquiry secretariat at the SHC
