Pune, Aug. 19 -- Pune Police have withdrawn sections of the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act invoked in two cases after realising that the legislation is not yet in force, commissioner Amitesh Kumar said on Tuesday. The Act, which criminalises religious conversion through coercion or fraud, is scheduled to come into force on August 28 (see box). Police had initially invoked the Act in a case registered at Fursungi police station on August 5, in which a 22-year-old man is accused of forcing his minor wife to convert to his religion. The Act was also invoked in a separate case registered at Khadak police station against a UK-based Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder accused of attempting to induce people to embrace a religion through faith-based gatherings. Kumar confirmed that the provisions had been withdrawn from both cases. "We have withdrawn the sections of the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act. However, the sections of other Acts will remain," Kumar said. He said the confusion arose because the notification communicating the President's assent to the legislation did not specify when it would come into force. "The notification about the presidential assent to the Act did not specify from which date it would come into force. While registering the offences, the officials assumed that it was already in force," Kumar said....