British Court Vindicate's Hindu Man's Right To Cremation on Funeral Pyre

In The Queen on the Appliation of Ghai v. Newcastle City Council, (Eng. & Wales Ct. App., Feb. 10, 2010), Britain's Court of Appeal upheld the right of a Hindu man to be cremated in England on a traditional funeral pyre according to his religious beliefs. The court interpreted the requirement in the Cremation Act 1902 and regulations under it that all cremations take place in crematoria as being broad enough to include funeral pyres surrounded by traditional Indian structures. According to The Hindu today, 71-year old Davendra Ghai, founder of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society who brought the case, welcomed the Appeals Court’s decision. He said: "Now if I go tomorrow I will go peacefully, because I know that I will have a good send-off. Everyone should live and die according to their own religion." (See prior related posting.)