Hindu Man Takes Open-Air Cremation Battle to Appeal Court

January 18, 2010

Author: Riazat Butt

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/18/hindu-appeal-funeral-open-cremations

A Hindu man will go to the court of appeal today as part of his ongoing fight to have open-air cremations in the UK.

Davender Ghai, 71, from Tyneside, wants the right to burn funeral pyres in accordance with his religious and cultural beliefs.

His court appearance, before some of the country's most senior judges, is the latest development in a three-year battle to overturn a decision by Newcastle city council, which denied him a licence for a pyre because it was unlawful under the 1930 Cremation Act.