KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Tuesday allowed an application filed by five shop owners of Gul Plaza, seeking to record their statements in the shopping mall inferno case.

During the hearing, the applicants’ counsel, Muhammad Qayyum Qadri, argued before Judicial Magistrate (South) Aasim Aslam that his clients desired to give “true and voluntary statements” under Section 164 of the CrPC regarding the incident before the court without any “fear and pressure or undue influence from any quarter”.

He claimed that when their statements were recorded by the police, the suspects in the case, along with 15 to 20 other persons, were also present at the police station.

State prosecutor Hassan Bhatti also supported the plea and submitted that there was no harm in recording their statements, adding that the trial had not begun and, therefore, the court was fully competent to record their statements.

On the other hand, defence counsel Shaikh Jawaid Mir, representing members of the Gul Plaza Management Committee, raised an objection to the plea and argued that their statements had already been recorded by the police and that the plea only intended to further increase the workload of the court, adding that no useful purpose would be served.

After hearing all sides, the magistrate allowed the plea and directed that their statements be recorded on Wednesday (today).

In its order, the court observed that the final charge sheet had been submitted and was pending for a final order.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2026