The return of the glorified pastor
How miracle maker’s miracle came unstuck 48 hours after his belated advent to face the legal choir in court
Pastor turned self-proclaimed prophet Jerome who claims his miracles can move men and mountains, moved Appeal Court President Justice Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne and Justice Chamath Morais three weeks ago to grant his writ application prayer and issue a stay order on his arrest.
The order was duly granted against objections from the Attorney General that: Reasonable grounds existed to suspect Jerome of money laundering
He was a suspect in the magistrate’s court case
There was a travel ban issued against him Jerome had filed a writ application to be heard before the Court of Appeal President Justice Bandula Karunaratne and Justice M.A.R. Marikkar.
Since Justice Bandula Karunaratne was overseas, it was taken up before Justices Sobhitha Rajakaruna and M.A.R. Marikkar. When the case was to be resumed before the same Bench, Jerome had inexplicably withdrawn it.
More than three weeks later he filed the present second writ application on the same grounds—without giving any legitimate reasons for doing so—to be heard before Appeal Court President Justice Bandula Karunaratne and Justice Chamath Morais.
In his writ application, Jerome Fernando had prayed for two interim reliefs. He had sought to prevent his arrest on the blasphemy charge and for being suspected of money laundering.
Appearing for the Attorney General, Senior State Counsel Shaminda Wickrema told court that the only inference that could be drawn for Jerome’s actions was that he was ‘bench hunting for a bench consisting of Appeal Court President Justice Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne since the President was the common factor whenever the petitioner wanted to urgently and diligently pursue either case.’
The Attorney General’s written submissions cited precedents from superior courts which emphasised that the ‘bench hunting’ issue should be considered ‘at the threshold stage before allowing this application to proceed further’. Jerome’s counsel Jagath Wickremanayake PC, however, refuted the ‘bench hunting ‘submission.
The Order of the Appeal Court granting the writ application was delivered by Justice Morais on November 17 with the Court’s President Justice Karunaratne agreeing. However, it made no reference to the ‘bench hunting’ issue nor to the other objections raised by the Attorney General.
In his Order, Justice Morais held: ‘To every person his religion is the best. Hence it is unavoidable and quite natural that when someone speaks highly of his own religion, the feelings of followers of other religions would get hurt. To create an offence under the ICCPR Act, it requires more than just a hurting of the feeling.’
On the money laundering issue, Justice Morais held: ‘An offence cannot be alleged even, until a statement is recorded from the petitioner, and fully inquired into such.’
Accordingly, the court directed that Jerome should not be arrested upon arrival provided he gave a statement to the CID within 48 hours. The Court held that after he had given a statement, ‘the law should take its own course.’
The law, indeed, took its own course, the same course it would have taken, had it not been prevented by Jerome’s sudden fugitive flight abroad, just hours before a travel ban was issued against him. It also denied the CID from obtaining a statement from him.
After nearly six months of absconding justice, Jerome returned on Wednesday, November 29. The next day, Thursday, he spent eight hours at the CID giving a statement. The following morning, the miracle maker’s miracle came unstuck when he was promptly arrested and remanded, 48 hours after touchdown. His next court date is on the 13th. Unless he has a new miracle up his sleeve, he faces weeks behind remand bars.
Earlier this year two others—a YouTuber and a female stand-up comic—had paid their share of penal penance for the same offence. It was now Jerome’s turn to be made equal before the bar of justice.
Another offender who has still not been called to face justice is the monk, Pitiduwe Siridhamma alias Samanthabadra who claims to have become a Buddha himself. His right to hallucinate is not disputed. But when Samanthabadra callously distorts and slanders the moral character of the Buddha as he recently did on various social media platforms, it cannot be ignored and remains unpunished.
Samanthabadra had imputed an improper relationship between Prince Siddhartha and Sujatha, the female devotee who, with great reverence to fulfil a vow she had made, had offered Siddhartha his last meal before he attained enlightenment. The heinous blasphemy Samanthabadra committed, which deeply hurt millions of Buddhists, makes insignificant and pales the seriousness of similar blasphemous acts which have already met legal reprisals.
Punishment should be meted in equal measure by the hand that enforces it. The Attorney General’s office hasn’t still moved against Samanthabadra in the manner in which it has moved against Jerome Fernando and the others. It’s best not to tarry.
Another offender who has still not been called to face justice is the monk, Pitiduwe Siridhamma alias Samanthabadra who claims to have become a Buddha himself
Or else, it will be asked why the sword of justice is raised against the self-proclaimed prophet Jerome and not against this self-proclaimed Arahant Samanthabadra, both of whom seem to suffer from delusions of grandeur with a stock of profanities to strew like confetti.
The question must be raised, as raised by SUNDAY PUNCH two weeks ago: Why has Samanthabadra’s perverse slur on the character of Buddhism’s founder, who is also worshipped by millions of Hindus as the 10th avatar of Lord Vishnu, still gone ignored at the Attorney General’s Office? Is the AG’s sword sheathed ‘lest the dew will rust it’?
As for Jerome, he can praise the idol of his faith to high heavens if he must. No issue. None will get hurt by that. It’s only when he debunks the hallowed faith of others and condemns them as children of a lesser God that the hurt begins to cut deep.