"numeric argument required" error in shell script

#!/bin/sh
get_json_response(){ status=$1 mode=$2 errorcode=$3 json_response=`python getJsonResponse.py $status $mode $errorcode` return json_response
}
get_json_response 0 0 0 

I get the following error when I try to run the above code -

./tryfunction.sh

./tryfunction.sh: line 8: return: json_response: numeric argument required

How should I rectify this error?

Know someone who can answer? Share a link to this question via email, Twitter, or Facebook.