PESHAWAR, Sept 5: The Peshawar High Court on Monday set aside conviction of a former Peshawar Town Council nazim, Haroon Bilour, by a returning officer in a case relate to the local government elections. A single-judge bench of Justice Shahjehan Khan Yousafzai accepted an appeal filed by Mr Bilour, observing that the returning officer had not fulfilled legal requirements while convicting the appellant.

Mr Bilour was convicted by an additional district and sessions judge, Nasrullah Khan Gandapur, in his capacity as a returning officer during the first phase of local government elections on Aug 18, and was sentenced to one month imprisonment.

The high court had earlier suspended his prison term on Aug 19 and released him on bail. He was convicted after a dispute at a polling station in Sheikhabad area in the local body election. He was convicted under section 171-J of Pakistan Penal Code which deals with inducing any person not to participate in any election.

The appellant had allegedly exchanged hot words with the returning officer and later with the district returning officer over a dispute of some bogus polling at a polling station.

The appellant’s counsel Abdul Lateef Afridi contended that the returning officer had erred in convicting the appellant summarily and had not fulfilled the legal requirements.

Mr Afridi referred to section 260 of Criminal Procedure Code, stating that the crimes and sections of PPC which could be tried summarily were mentioned in it, but section 171-J of the PPC was not there which meant that summary trial could not be conducted in such like cases.

He argued that even in summary trial the court had to fulfil the legal requirements. He added that in the instant case there was no complainant nor any FIR had been registered. He added that no charge was framed against the appellant and he was sentenced in a hurry without giving him opportunity to clarify his position or argue his case.