Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel, who is an Indian Imam was pulled up by a court for his offensive comments against Jews and Christians during a sermon, has been deported back to India today, under the repatriation order.

46-year-old Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel was handed a nearly Rs 200,000 fine on Monday after he pleaded guilty to a charge of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion or race.

Last week, he apologized to representatives of Christian, Sikh, Taoist, Buddhist and Hindu as well as the members of the Federation of Indian Muslims by saying that he was "filled with great remorse” for the inconvenience, tension and trauma caused by his remarks.

Abdul Jameel also met Singaporean Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, who said that he appreciated the sincerity of Imam’s apology.

The Imam said that he totally understood and accepted the decision to prosecute him and the episode was a “priceless lesson” to him.

The Imam was reassured that the charge against him "was not one out of witch hunt, but solely to preserve the sanctity of interfaith harmony".

"This is what I am bringing with me back to India. This is the one thing I will not forget, and we all must not take for granted," he said.

In January the imam recited a supplication in Arabic during a prayer session at a mosque, "Grant us help against the Jews and Christians," court documents showed.

The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore said that Jameel's supplication "is not from the Quran and does not constitute part of the divine message".

The judge of a District Court, Judge Jasvender Kaur said Singapore "cannot allow any person or group to sow discord or promote enmity among the different religious or racial groups when we have worked so hard as a society to achieve religious and racial harmony".

The judge said she imposed only a fine considering the "strong sense of remorse" shown by Abdul Jameel.

AMandeep