Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Thursday announced that a judicial inquiry will be conducted into the Gul Plaza fire.
“To further probe this and to promote departmental transparency, the sub-committee decided … a letter is being penned to the honourable Sindh High Court chief justice,” Memon told a press conference in Karachi.
He added that the SHC top judge will be requested to appoint a serving judge to “review everything and decide on it”.
A cabinet sub-committee — chaired by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and including ministers Memon, Nasir Hussain Shah, Saeed Ghani, and Ziaul Hassan Lanjar — reviewed a report submitted by a two-member team.
“The meeting with the chief minister went on for four to five hours and important decisions were made in light of the commissioner and additional IG’s report,” Memon noted.
The senior minister then listed the decisions taken by the sub-committee.
He observed that the Civil Defence department conducted fire safety audits of Gul Plaza and other buildings since 2023, but “no effective, corrective, precautionary or legal action was enforced to prevent such incidents of such nature”.
Memon said the Civil Defence director and its South district additional controller “did not bring the matter up to authorities nor took any appropriate action against violators”.
The minister highlighted that Gul Plaza’s management had received notices twice after fire safety audits, informing them they did not have adequate safety arrangements in place in case of an emergency.
Hence, both Civil Defence officials were suspended immediately as they were unable to implement either of the letters.
Providing details of January 17, when the blaze erupted, Memon said there were between 2,000 and 2,500 people present in the building, including workers and visitors.
“As the fire broke out, many people escaped. Government employees managed to rescue them. Eighty people fell victim and were affected,” the minister added.
More to follow
