LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- A devout Hindu said Wednesday he was confident that a British court will rule that laws preventing him from being cremated on an open-air funeral pyre in `` a sacrament of fire '' are a breach of his human rights . Davender Ghai arrives at the High Court for his challenge to be allowed to be cremated on a funeral pyre . Davender Ghai , who emigrated to England from Kenya in 1958 , has a number of ailments including diabetes , asthma , anemia and a degenerative spinal disease but says he fears he will not be allowed to die with `` dignity . '' The 70-year-old spiritual healer said that when he does die , he would like his eldest son Sanjay , who lives in Canada , to light the pyre as his family watches what they believe is his soul being released from his body . Local officials in his home city of Newcastle , in northern England , rejected his request for a license for a pyre site , ruling that cremations outside of crematoria were illegal under the 1902 Cremation Act . Watch as Hindu campaigns for pyres » . Ghai , a founder member of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society ( AAFS ) , subsequently took his legal challenge to the High Court on the grounds that this refusal was discriminatory and violated his human rights . He and his supporters were in court this week as his legal counsel Ramby de Mello said he was `` yearning to die '' according to the Hindu religion and to be cremated `` with dignity . '' What do you think ? Asked if he believed he would win the ruling , Ghai told CNN on Wednesday : `` I 'm very , very hopeful that we 'll get it . The thing is we 've got good support now . When we first started we had a few people . `` They thought it was illegal and outlawed , so they would n't come forward . Now we 've got very , very good support . I think about 90 percent of the Hindu organizations are begging us . '' If he is successful when the court gives its ruling on Thursday , other Hindus and Sikhs could be allowed similar last rites . Ghai said some Hindus currently send the bodies of family members to India for cremation but if the ruling goes in his favor , UK cremations on funeral pyres would be much cheaper . `` Many people are offended and upset ( by the refusal to allow funeral pyres in Britain ) , because what they 'll think is that all other religions got what they wanted , Hindus did n't get what they wanted . `` The reason being they 're very peaceful people . They 're coming to me and say you 've done well to ask them for this . At least somebody has spoken on behalf of the Hindus . '' He described normal cremation facilities as `` a mechanized humiliation of dignity -- a waste disposal process devoid of spiritual significance . '' `` Confining bodies in coffins and concealing the cremation process '' did not reflect his cultural values , Ghai added . In July 2006 , Ghai and the AAFS escaped prosecution after cremating the body of Rajpal Mehat , an Indian-born Sikh , on an open pyre in a remote field hired from an apparently unwitting landowner , PA reported . Ghai dismissed fears that cremation on funeral pyres could damage the environment and pledged to do everything to minimize pollution . `` They burned about 200,000 cattles because of foot and mouth disease ; if burning 200,000 cattles then did n't affect the environment , how can a few bodies affect the environment ? ''
British Hindu fights in court to be allowed to be cremated on funeral pyre . He says local officials ' refusal to allow funeral pyre breach his human rights . Officials : Cremations outside of crematoria are illegal under 1902 Cremation Act .