British Hindu wins right to cremation in "enclosed" funeral pyre

Feb 10, 2010, 13:52 GMT

London - A 71-year-old devout Hindu in Britain won a marathon legal battle Wednesday for his right to be cremated on a traditional funeral pyre - surrounded by walls and covered by a roof with an opening.

Davender Ghai, from Newcastle, northern Britain, said after the Appeal Court ruling in London that the verdict had 'breathed new life into an old man's dreams.'

However, it has wider national significance for Britain's Hindu community, estimated to be between 600,000 and 1 million.

In 2006, Newcastle City Council had refused Ghai's request for a permit for a cremation site in a remote part of the surrounding county of Northumberland, citing Britain's Cremation Act dating from 1902.

Last year, the High Court dismissed Ghai's challenge of the council decision, but the Appeal Court ruled that his wish should be granted provided that the funeral pyre was 'enclosed in a structure.'

'It seems to us that Mr Ghai's religious and personal beliefs as to how his remains should be cremated once he dies can be accommodated with current cremation legislation, senior Appeal Judge David Neuberger said.

During the proceedings, lawyers for Ghai had made clear that the funeral pyre would be made of wood and be open to the sky, and that the site could be surrounded by walls and the pyre covered with a roof which had an opening.

Newcastle Council, stressing the verdict's national importance, said it was now awaiting government instructions as to how environmental and public health standards could be protected.

Ghai, who insisted that he had always only wished to 'clarify the law' and never wanted a 'funeral pyre cremation in an open field,' said: 'All the time I had complete faith that justice would be done. Now I can go in peace.'