.
I was kind of thinking India or Kyber Pass made. The serial number is obviously hand stamped as are the stars on the action and knox form of the barrel. It looks like someone attempted to copy the same form as a Military rifle, but did not quite succeed. If the 1942 on the trigger guard is the date, the author of this rifle would have had access to the SMLE and most of the serial numbers on them began with a letter and a serial number underneath. The "0" is stamped on the receiver, but not the barrel.
As to being converted in India, I can also see that, as the British armed their less reliable and trustworthy Regiments with single shot rifles, rather than magazine fed ones. It is also possible it was converted for sporting purposes or hunting.
Has the bore been measured to see if it is .303 calibre? Is it rifled or smoothbore?
Some of these rifles were modified to small bore shotguns in England, but this one seems a bit "crude" for the English market.
.