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SHC CJ Appoints Justice Agha Faisal to Probe Deadly Gul Plaza Fire
Sindh High Court CJ Zafar Ahmed Rajput has nominated Justice Agha Faisal to lead a judicial inquiry into the Gul Plaza fire that killed at least 73 people and destroyed over 1,100 shops.
ND
by News Desk
2026-02-04
SHC CJ Appoints Justice Agha Faisal to Probe Deadly Gul Plaza Fire

Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput on Wednesday nominated Justice Agha Faisal to head a judicial inquiry into the devastating Gul Plaza fire that claimed at least 73 lives and caused massive destruction to the commercial building.

The development comes days after the Sindh government announced it would approach the SHC chief justice to constitute a judicial commission to investigate the incident, which took nearly two days to be fully extinguished and left more than 1,100 shops in ruins.

According to a letter issued by the SHC registrar to the secretary of the Sindh Home Department, the chief justice nominated Justice Faisal as a 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”.

The letter stated that the decision was taken in accordance with Section 3 of the Sindh Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance, 1969, and after considering the Sindh government’s request along with the proposed terms of reference (ToR) submitted on January 30.

Earlier, the SHC had rejected a request by Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori to form a judicial commission to probe the inferno, citing non-compliance with relevant laws and established case law “in letter and spirit”.

On January 29, the Sindh government formally wrote to Chief Justice Rajput, requesting the nomination of a sitting judge to conduct an inquiry into the incident, ascertain responsibility, and examine any lapses in regulatory oversight. The Chief Minister’s House also urged the SHC registrar to process the request expeditiously.

The move followed deliberations by a cabinet subcommittee of the PPP-led Sindh government, which reviewed a report submitted by a two-member fact-finding team and concluded that an independent judicial probe was necessary.

Although major opposition parties in Sindh had unanimously rejected the preliminary findings of the government’s probe, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon denied that the decision to order a judicial inquiry was taken under political pressure.

Following its initial investigation, the Sindh government had suspended multiple officials and announced departmental action against others. Those named included the chief engineer (bulk) and hydrants in-charge of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC), Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Municipal Commissioner Afzal Zaidi, a senior director of municipal services, as well as the Civil Defence director and the additional controller of the South district.

Memon had highlighted that a “delay in the supply of water to the fire tenders” adversely affected firefighting efforts by the KMC fire brigade and Rescue 1122.

In the first information report (FIR) registered on January 23, Karachi police described the blaze as an “outcome of negligence and carelessness”, further intensifying calls for accountability in one of the city’s deadliest recent fire incidents.
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