The court of additional sessions judge A S Gandhi on August 12 granted ad-interim anticipatory bail to Pankaj Devnoor, a 50-year-old British national and Overseas Citizen of India cardholder, in a case registered against him under Maharashtra’s newly enacted anti-conversion law. The court directed that, should he be arrested, he be released on a personal bond with a surety of Rs 1 lakh.
Devnoor’s case is one of two registered so far under the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, the first such cases anywhere in the state since the law took effect on August 1, days after being notified by the state government on July 31. Both cases were registered by Pune Police.
Until the main application is decided, the court has ordered Devnoor to report to the police station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 10 am and 1 pm, or whenever the investigating officer summons him in writing. He has also been barred from leaving the country without the court’s permission, from pressuring anyone connected to the case, and from taking part in any “religious activity or cultural programmes, etc” while the interim order remains in force. His main anticipatory bail plea is still pending, with the court awaiting responses from the investigating officer and the state, and the matter next listed for August 25.
Devnoor, who lives in Manchester and hails from Wai in Satara district, delivered a sermon at a place of worship in Guruwar Peth on August 7. His counsel has said he had been invited to the programme, which marked the venue’s anniversary, and had come “officially.”
The case against him stems from that programme. Amit Bhosale, a 31-year-old rickshaw driver from Bhavani Peth, filed the complaint after coming across a social media post about the event and deciding to attend. He alleged that Devnoor’s remarks misrepresented Hindu deities, and separately alleged that Devnoor told the gathering that invoking the name of Jesus could bring rain and cure illness. The FIR states that Devnoor, addressing an estimated 80 to 100 people, wove Hindu religious vocabulary, including kirtan, sant, mauli, taal, veena and tabla, into a sermon on Christian teachings, an approach the complaint characterises as a deliberate attempt to draw Hindus towards Christianity.
Khadak police registered the case on August 9 against Devnoor and the programme’s organisers under Section 23(B) of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, along with Sections 3(1)(a)(iii), (v), (viii), 9(1) and 11(1)(2) of the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026.
Police said OCI cardholders may attend prayer meetings and take part in religious functions, but need prior permission before preaching or addressing such gatherings themselves. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Branch) Prashant Amrutkar said legal steps, including deportation, would be considered.
Devnoor’s counsel, advocate Vijaysinh Thombare, denied the allegations. In seeking bail, Devnoor took the position that the programme was open to the public and that the complainant had gone of his own accord after noticing the social media post. He also argued that the complaint did not identify any specific act of deceit or false representation on his part.
The case involving the minor, however, predates Devnoor’s by four days, registered on August 5 at Fursungi police station. Police said a 45-year-old man from Ludhiana, originally from Uttar Pradesh, told them his 17-year-old daughter had gone missing the previous year. When the family later traced her to Pune, they found that she had allegedly been sexually abused and that attempts had been made to convert her religion. The accused, a 21-year-old man, was arrested the same day under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the new anti-conversion law, and remains in judicial custody.
Police said the accused has been booked under Sections 3 and 9(2) of the Act. Section 3 bars anyone from converting or attempting to convert a person, or aiding such conversion, through coercion, fraud, allurement, misrepresentation, force, threat or undue influence. Under Section 9(2), such an offence carries up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh where the person converted is a minor.
