In The News

Court reserves judgment on Hindu funeral pyres

Court reserves judgment on Hindu funeral pyres

A Hindu man, who wants the right to be cremated in an open-air funeral pyre, must wait to see whether he has won his case at the Court of Appeal.

Davender Ghai, from Gosforth, Newcastle, has been fighting through the courts after Newcastle City Council refused him a permit for an open-air cremation site in a romote part of Northumberland.

Mr. Ghai, who is 70, says he believes traditional Hindu funeral pyres are essential for the release of the spirit into the afterlife.

Last year the High Court in London backed the council’s decision, but Mr. Ghai was granted leave to appeal.

Court of Appeal judges have now heard his case, but have reserved judgement until a later date.

View previous In the News items: Funeral takes place of Prominent GAA man. , British man among dead in Haiti. or Body of Ulster industrialist to be cremated in US.

 

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