The Court of Appeal has announced that delivering the decision on whether an interim injunction would be issued or not preventing the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) from arresting Pastor Jerome Fernando, who is accused of allegedly insulting other religions, is slated for November 14, 2023.

This order was issued by the two-member bench consisting of Appeals Court President Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne and Justice Chamath Morais when a writ petition filed by Pastor Jerome seeking an order preventing his arrest by the CID was taken up before the court today (20).

The self-styled “prophet”, found himself in hot water after a video of a recent sermon delivered by him was widely circulated on social media, stirring much controversy in the country, due to allegations that it included derogatory statements related to Lord Buddha and other religious figures.

Subsequently, President Ranil Wickremesinghe had ordered the CID to launch an immediate investigation into the matter, citing that such statements could create religious conflicts and harm the country’s harmony, while several other parties had also lodged complaints with the CID regarding the matter.

However, Pastor Jerome flew out to Singapore two days before the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court issued a foreign travel ban on him. However, the police had said Pastor Fernando could be arrested upon his return to the island nation.

On 26 May, Fernando had filed an FR petition before the court, through his attorneys, seeking an order preventing his arrest.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the DIG in charge of the CID, the CID director and the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the cybercrimes unit of the CID had been named as the respondents of the FR petition.

In his petition, the Pastor deemed the CID’s attempts to arrest him unlawful, claiming that the police had not presented any piece of evidence to the court to prove that his comments threatened religious harmony in the country.