The attorney general yesterday (16) stated before the Court of Appeal that it was not possible to provide special consideration before the law to pastor Jerome Fernando, who has been accused of insulting other religions through a controversial statement made by him.
Appearing on behalf of the AG, a representative of the AG’s Department informed this to the Court, when a writ petition filed by Fernando – requesting to issue an order preventing his arrest by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) – was taken up before the Court.
The relevant petition was taken up before the bench consisting of Court President Justice Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne and Justice Chamath Morais.
On 26 May, Fernando had filed a fundamental rights (FR) petition before the Supreme Court through his attorneys, seeking an order preventing his arrest.
The Inspector General of Police, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the CID, the CID Director, and the Officer-in-charge of the Cybercrimes Unit of the CID had been named as respondents in the FR petition.
In his petition, Fernando 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 threaten religious harmony in the country.
(themorning.lk)
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