{
  "id": 1758010,
  "title": "Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026: Law to come into force from August 28, Pune police drop anti-conversion law provisions from two cases",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/maharashtra-freedom-of-religion-act-2026-law-to-come-into-force-from",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-18T17:22:26.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/maharashtra-freedom-of-religion-act-2026-law-to-come-into-force-from-august-28-pune-police-drop-anti-conversion-law-provisions-from-two-cases-10839191/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Pune police, the first in Maharashtra to register two cases under the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, have removed the anti-conversion law provisions from both cases, as the legislation will not come into force until August 28. A 21-year-old man was arrested in one case, while a British national, Pankaj Devnoor, secured anticipatory bail in the other. The Maharashtra Home Department notified on Monday that the law will begin on August 28, following the July 31 Presidential assent and July 31 notification. Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said that the chargesheet will be filed without applying the relevant sections, and the remaining provisions will be used for prosecution. The first case involved a 45-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh whose 17-year-old daughter allegedly faced sexual abuse by a 21-year-old man, who was also accused of attempting religious conversion. The second case involved a British national, Devnoor, who was booked for attempting to spread misconceptions about Hinduism in a program and for trying to lure people into religious conversion. Devnoor's lawyer, Vijaysinh Thombre, accused the Pune police of registering the case hurriedly due to the law's non-enforcement date.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "Pune police registered two cases under Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act 2026.",
    "Law will come into force from August 28 following Presidential assent.",
    "Anti-conversion law provisions dropped from both cases by Pune police."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}