SIC seeks chief secretary’s reply on plea to release Gul Plaza fire inquiry report
The Sindh Information Commission has asked the chief secretary to respond by July 20 to MQM-P’s plea for public release of the Gul Plaza fire inquiry report. The Home Department says the report was submitted to the cabinet and later handed to the chief secretary for record and implementation.
KARACHI: The Sindh Information Commission (SIC) has asked the Sindh chief secretary to submit comments by July 20 on a complaint filed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) seeking public release of the judicial commission’s report on the Gul Plaza fire.
The matter came up before the SIC in proceedings conducted by information commissioners Muhammad Saleem Khan and Noor Muhammad Dayo. The complaint, filed in May, named the chief secretary, the law secretary and others as respondents. MQM-P moved the appeal under the Sindh Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2016, and Article 19-A of the Constitution, alleging non-issuance of the inquiry report.
Home Department submits report
During the hearing, a Home Department official submitted a report in compliance with directions issued by the commission at earlier hearings. The commission of inquiry had been constituted on February 4 and was headed by Justice Agha Faisal of the Sindh High Court.
The Home Department told the SIC that after completing its work, the inquiry commission submitted its report along with four additional volumes containing the full record of the proceedings to the Home secretary in April. That, after receiving the report, an implementation committee was formed under the chairmanship of the Sindh home minister.
The inquiry findings were later placed before the provincial cabinet on June 2, 2026. It stated, "Thereafter, the inquiry report was presented to the cabinet on 02.06.2026. The cabinet decided to hand over the inquiry report to the chief secretary Sindh for record purpose and implementation."
Next hearing on July 20
After taking the Home Department’s submission on record, the SIC adjourned the proceedings until July 20. The commission directed the chief secretary to file comments or a reply on the issue of the report’s non-issuance before the next hearing.
The case relates specifically to MQM-P’s request that the provincial government be directed to make the judicial commission’s report public.
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