KARACHI: The municipal commissioner of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation has informed the Gul Plaza Judicial Commission that no consultation was required under the law with the provincial government regarding the original lease and subsequent mutation and renewal of lease of the building.
The Municipal Commissioner, Sumera Hussain, in her reply also submitted that available record has sufficiently demonstrated continuity of lease arrangement and the nature of transaction as one of renewal and no additional document evidencing consultation with the provincial government was available.
Earlier, the single-member commission headed by Justice Agha Faisal of the Sindh High Court, tasked with investigating the deadly inferno, had noted the mayor’s resolution about grant of lease of subject property and directed the municipal commissioner to produce any document evidencing consultation with the provincial government under Section 45(5) of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 1979.
In her reply, the municipal commissioner said that upon seeking comments and verification from the director land (KMC), it has been reported that no such document existed on record about consultation with Sindh government.
The statement also asserted that the subject property formed part of a longstanding leasehold arrangement originating from lease granted by the Karachi Municipality in favour of East India Tramways Company Limited in 1936 (commencing from 1884) for a term of 99 years with provision for renewal.
It further maintained that under the People’s Local Council (Land) Rules 1975, existing leases issued by government or predecessor of a council were to continue on their original terms and were deemed to be leases of the council.
The reply said that the lease of the property in question was accordingly renewed and mutated in favour of M/s Jenica Limited in 1991 and the same exercise was undertaken in continuation of an existing leasehold arrangement and in accordance with legal regime governing renewal leases under the relevant rules and did not amount to a fresh grant, allotment or disposal of municipal land.
“In view thereof, the matter of renewal falls within the domain of the special rules governing existing leases and their renewal and no separate or independent consultation with the provincial government under Section 45(5) of the Ordinance was required to be undertaken in the facts and circumstance of the present case”, it added.
The statement of the municipal commissioner also submitted that the entire available record about the subject property has already been placed before the commission and the same has demonstrated the continuity of lease arrangement and nature of transaction as one of renewal.
“No additional document evidencing consultation with the provincial government is available for production”, it concluded.
Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2026
