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The Pune City Police has withdrawn provisions of the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act from two cases after it emerged that the legislation had not come into force when the offences were registered.
The Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, which criminalises religious conversion through coercion, fraud or other prohibited means, is scheduled to come into force on August 26, 2026, according to a government notification. Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar on Tuesday confirmed that the provisions had been withdrawn, while stressing that investigations under other applicable laws would continue. "We have withdrawn the sections of the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act. However, the sections of other Acts will remain, and the cases will be probed," Kumar said. Kumar said there was initially no clarity regarding the date from which the legislation would become operational after the notification on presidential assent was issued. "When the notification informing about the presidential assent to the Act came, it was not specified from which date it would come into force," he said. "While registering the offences, the officials assumed that it was already in force," the commissioner added. The police subsequently reviewed the cases and removed the provisions of the Act, as it had not been notified for implementation on the dates when the offences were registered. Police had initially invoked provisions of the Act in a case registered at Fursungi police station on August 5. A 22-year-old man was booked for allegedly forcing his minor wife to convert to his religion. In another case registered at Khadak police station, an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder from the United Kingdom was accused of allegedly attempting to influence people to embrace Christianity through religious gatherings. (ANI)
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