Gul Plaza judicial inquiry report remains undisclosed

Karachi: The judicial commission report on the Gul Plaza fire tragedy has been submitted to the Sindh government, but its findings have still not been released publicly.

As per details, the inquiry report points to the absence of adequate fire safety arrangements at Gul Plaza and also identifies several circumstances that affected rescue efforts during the incident. According to official sources, these included encroachments around the building, regular traffic congestion on M.A. Jinnah Road, and construction activity related to the Green Line project in front of the building, which hampered the emergency response.

The nearest Karachi Metropolitan Corporation fire station is in Saddar and is about five minutes away from Gul Plaza. However, the same factors — traffic congestion, encroachments and Green Line construction — caused delays in the arrival of even the first fire tender at the site.

The Gul Plaza tragedy took place on January 17, 2026, and claimed dozens of lives. In the immediate aftermath, the Sindh government had assigned the Karachi commissioner to conduct an inquiry, and a preliminary report was prepared. That report, however, was rejected in political and social circles, which pressed the provincial government to order a judicial inquiry into the major incident.

Following that demand, the Sindh government constituted a judicial commission on February 10 under Sindh High Court judge Justice Agha Faisal. The commission completed its proceedings and submitted its detailed report to the Sindh Law Department on April 7. The decision on whether to publish the report was left to the Sindh government.

On April 9, a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah decided to form a committee of three provincial ministers to act on the report’s recommendations. The committee includes Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Ziaul Hassan Lanjar and Jam Ikramullah Dharejo.

The panel has been assigned to introduce immediate and broad-based reforms for building safety in Karachi and to carry out fire safety audits of commercial buildings across Sindh. According to a spokesperson for the Chief Minister House, if fresh legislation is needed on fire safety in commercial buildings, a bill will be tabled in the next session of the Sindh Assembly.

Urban planning expert Farhan Anwar said the findings should be disclosed publicly. "While such reports are often delayed, they should eventually be disclosed," he said.

MQM-Pakistan Deputy Parliamentary Leader Taha Ahmed Khan also called for the immediate release of the report.

"This is not merely a procedural matter but a matter of human lives. People were burned alive, families were destroyed, and those who lost their loved ones have the right to know what happened and who is responsible. Keeping the report confidential creates the impression that the Sindh government failed seriously in preventing the tragedy,"he said.

Sindh government spokesperson Sukhdev Assardas Hemnani told The Express Tribune that the ministerial committee set up by the provincial cabinet is examining the report in detail. "The report will be made public after the committee's recommendations. The committee has also been mandated to develop a comprehensive strategy and propose corrective measures based on the findings of the inquiry report," Hemnani said.