4 min readPuneAug 18, 2026 10:52 PM IST
First published on: Aug 18, 2026 at 10:52 PM IST
PUNE CITY police, who were the first to register two cases under the newly enacted Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, have removed the provisions of the anti-conversion law from both cases after the state Home department notified that the legislation will come into force only from August 28. A 21-year-old man had been arrested in one of the cases, while a British national had secured anticipatory bail in the other.
A notification issued by the Home department on Monday reads that August 28 has been decided as the date on which the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026 will come into force.
When contacted, Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said, “The Presidential assent had come on July 31 and a notification was issued. So we assumed that the law had come into force. However, in that notification the date on which it will come into force was not mentioned. The date of enforcement has now been notified as August 28. So now we shall file a chargesheet in the case without applying those sections. So the provisions under the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act have been deleted in both the cases. We have informed the court about the removal of the provisions.”
A senior officer from Pune police said that prosecution in both the cases will continue under the remaining provisions.
Two separate cases were registered with Pune city police under the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, the first on August 5 and the second on August 9. In the first case registered at a police station on August 5, a 45-year-old man, currently living in Ludhiana and a native of Uttar Pradesh, has filed a complaint about his 17-year-old daughter who had gone missing last year. When the family came to Pune recently in search of her they found out that she was allegedly sexually abused by a 21-year-old man, who had made attempts for her religious conversion. A case was registered against the 21-year-old accused under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026. The 21-year-old accused is currently in judicial custody.
Second case was registered at the Khadak police station under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 and Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026. In this case, a British national Pankaj Devnoor was booked based on a complaint filed by a 31-year-old rickshaw driver. The British national who holds an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) has secured an interim anticipatory bail in the case. The complainant has said in the FIR that, “In a programme organised on August 7 at Guruwar Peth area, Devnoor was trying to spread misconceptions about Hindu religion and was trying to lure the people in the audience into religious conversion.”
The legislation criminalises religious conversion brought about through coercion, fraud, force, threats, misrepresentation, inducement or undue influence. It also covers conversions allegedly linked to marriage or a promise of marriage. Significantly, the law places the onus on the person facilitating the conversion to establish that it was carried out voluntarily. It prescribes stricter punishment when the alleged conversion involves a minor, woman, member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, or a person of unsound mind. The Maharashtra Legislature passed the law earlier this year. It subsequently received the President’s assent and was notified by the state government on July 31.
Devnoor’s lawyer Vijaysinh Thombre said, “This means that Pune police registered a case in a hurried manner when the law was not even in force. This was done just to make certain people and organisations happy. This is very condemnable. We have already approached the high court and have submitted that Devnoor has been booked in a false case.”
A senior officer from Pune police said that prosecution in both the cases will continue under the remaining provisions. (File image) 
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