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British Hindu loses open-air cremation case

LONDON: A devout British Hindu on Friday lost his protracted legal battle for the right to be cremated on an open-air funeral pyre which is illegal in Britain. Davender Ghai (70), whose case has divided Hindu opinion in Britain, had gone to the High Court after being refused permission by the local council to set up an open-air cremation site in Northumberland, north-east England, in 2006.

But the court upheld the ban saying it was “justified” and consistent with the Cremation Act of 1902.

“The Cremation Act 1902 and its attendant 2008 regulations are clear in their effect: the burning of human remains, other than in a crematorium, is a criminal offence. This effectively prohibits open-air funeral pyres,” Mr. Justice Cranston ruled. But he gave Mr. Ghai permission to take his case to the Court of Appeal.

“I don’t think there is a real prospect of success, but it seems to me sufficiently a matter of public importance for me to give permission to appeal,” the judge observed.

Mr. Ghai, who is in India for medical treatment, was reported as saying that he would “appeal until the very end, in the faith that my dying wish will not go unheard.” “A matter of such magnitude deserves to be heard by the highest courts in our land and I shall not tire until all legal avenues are exhausted,” he said.

Mr. Ghai, founder of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society (AAFS), had argued that an open-air pyre was essential to a “good death” and was fundamental to the Hindu beliefs. He said he wanted to die “with dignity” and not be “bundled in a box.” Mr. Ghai invoked Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects religious freedom, and Article 8, which covers the right to private and family life.

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