In a recent legal development in the Gul Plaza fire case, the Karachi Sessions Court has granted interim bail to the accused, ARY News reported. While granting interim bail, the court ordered the adult accused to submit surety bonds of PKR 500,000 each. Meanwhile, a minor child named in the case was directed to submit a surety bond of PKR 10,000.
The bail pleas were heard by Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Aslam Sheikh, during which defense counsel representing the applicants pleaded for leniency, stating that the tragedy had destroyed his clients’ livelihoods and that they were financially incapable of arranging such hefty surety amounts. The accused are namely Tanveer Pasta, Ammar Ismail, Muhammad Amin, Muhammad Ramzan, Naimat Ullah and his son, Huzaifa.
Also read: Gul Plaza tragedy: How you can support small businesses after the devastating fire.
The petitioners strongly maintained their innocence, asserting that the police had wrongfully implicated them in the case merely to cover up the sheer negligence and incompetence of government departments and civic bodies. According to the defense plea, rather than causing the fire, the accused persons actually acted as first responders. They claimed to have risked their own lives to evacuate hundreds of people from the burning market safely. The petitioners further alleged that state rescue institutions arrived at the scene severely late and lacked basic firefighting equipment, including water and other essential resources, which ultimately aggravated the disaster.
The horrific fire at Gul Plaza occurred in January 2026, resulting in the tragic deaths of over 70 people and leaving dozens of others missing. Following a painstaking, months-long investigation, the Karachi Police recently finalized the investigation report, holding five individuals, including key officials of the Gul Plaza Market Union, directly responsible for the catastrophic event.
