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10 July 2009 / Nicholas Dobson
Issue: 7377 / Categories: Features , Public , Human rights
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Cultural sensitivities

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Should Orthodox Hindus in the UK have the right to conduct open air funeral pyres? Nicholas Dobson reports

How should a local authority in modern multicultural Britain react when faced with a letter from an orthodox Hindu asking for land to be provided for an open air funeral pyre?

Newcastle City council had to unravel this issue when its leader, Councillor Peter Arnold, received such a request. Councillor Arnold, while indicating that the council had always been sensitive and proactive in the provision of bereavement services for all faiths and beliefs, nevertheless refused.
This was because the council contended that the law prohibited funeral pyres and  the council confirmed its position in the light of legal advice from John McGuinness QC. And in a comprehensive and carefully considered judgment, Mr Justice Cranston in the Administrative Court agreed (see Ghai v Newcastle City Council [2009] EWHC 978, [2009] All ER (D) 68 (May)).

Judicial review

The claimant, Davender Kumar Ghai, as an orthodox Hindu wished his body to be cremated on an open air pyre

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