Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput on Wednesday nominated Justice Agha Faisal to probe the cause of the Gul Plaza blaze that claimed at least 73 lives.
The development comes days after the Sindh government announced it would approach the SHC chief justice for a judicial inquiry into the tragedy.
A letter from the SHC registrar to the Sindh Home Department’s secretary, available with Dawn, stated that the chief justice had nominated Justice Faisal as the single-member commission to “probe the causes of the fire incident of Gul Plaza shopping centre, Karachi for a period to be fixed and notified by the government of Sindh”.
It stated that the decision was made keeping in view the provisions of Section 3 of the Sindh Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance, 1969 and considering the Sindh government’s request, along with the terms of reference (ToR) which had been sought on January 30.
On January 29, the provincial government wrote to Justice Rajput, requesting him to nominate a sitting judge to lead an inquiry to ascertain responsibility and examine any failures in regulatory oversight linked to the incident.
The Chief Minister House also urged the registrar to process the request promptly, stating that “an early response is solicited”.
This move came after a cabinet subcommittee of the PPP-led Sindh government reviewed a report submitted by a two-member team. They discussed the circumstances surrounding the fire incident at Gul Plaza and agreed that an independent judicial probe was necessary.
Though the decision followed Sindh’s major opposition parties’ unanimous rejection of the preliminary findings, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon refuted that it was due to “pressure” from the political opponents.
More to follow
