PESHAWAR, Aug 19: The Peshawar High Court on Friday suspended the conviction of former Peshawar Town Council nazim, Haroon Bilour, in an election-related offence and released him on bail.

A single-judge bench of Justice Shahjehan Khan Yousafzai ordered that the appellant must be released after providing a bail of Rs50,000.

The court admitted the appeal, challenging the conviction of Haroon Bilour by a returning officer, Nasrullah Ghandapur, and issued a notice to the respondents, including the government.

Mr Bilour was convicted after a dispute emerged at a polling station in Sheikhabad area during the local body elections on Thursday.

The returning officer sentenced him to one-month imprisonment. He was charged under section 171-J of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deals with inducing any person not to participate in any process of election.

The appellant had allegedly entered into an arguement with the returning officer and later with the district returning officer over a dispute of bogus voting at a polling station.

Soon after the occurrence, Mr Bilour was admitted to the Lady Reading Hospital as he claimed he was not feeling well; hence, police officials were deputed outside his hospital room.

Advocate Abdul Lateef Afridi appeared for the appellant and contended that he was sentenced only to a one-month imprisonment which could be suspended by the court.

Mr Afridi had also filed an application under section 426 of the Criminal Procedure Code, requesting the court to suspend the sentence and release the appellant on bail till the final disposal of his appeal.

Mr Afridi contended that the returning officer had erred in convicting the appellant. He added that no charge was framed against the appellant and he was sentenced in a hurry without giving him an opportunity to clarify his position or argue his case.