In matters of religious conversion, how exactly will state agencies distinguish between voluntary personal decision and coercion? Also, how will the state protect a person’s liberty and privacy? These and related questions linger even as the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, has come into full force.

The first case was registered in Pune last month. Passed by the state legislature in March this year, within days of the introduction of the Bill by the Devendra Fadnavis government, without serious discussions, the law is supposed to prevent religious conversion by force, fraud, coercion, misrepresentation, allurement or undue influence.

However, it gives the state enormous power and oversight in matters of faith, ranging from voluntary embrace of a religious order to........

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