PESHAWAR, Dec 6: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has appointed Sahibzada Mohammad Khalid, a BPS-22 retired officer, as chief information commissioner under Section 24 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013, according to an official communiqué.

The Chief Information Commissioner shall hold office for a term of three years from the date on which he takes charge of his office or till he attains 65 years of age whichever is earlier. According to the release, issued on Friday, the CIC shall not be eligible for reappointment in accordance with the law.

The statement terms the CIC’s appointment as a step forward towards making the recently promulgated right to Information Commission effective.

Similarly, according to another official handout, the provincial government has constituted a committee to identify and select two members of the information commission in line with Section 24 of Right to Information Act 2013.

The ‘search committee’ comprises the provincial chief secretary as its chairman whereas justice (retired) Abdul Aziz Kundi; Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gillani, vice-chancellor of University of Engineering Technology, Peshawar, and journalist Rahimullah Yousafzai as members while secretary information would work as the secretary to the committee.

Terms of reference of the committee will be to ensure merit-based assessment and submit its recommendations within 30 days.