LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- A Hindu man in Britain lost his court battle Friday for the legal right to be cremated in a traditional Hindu open-air funeral pyre . Most Hindus believe open-air burning is the spiritually . appropriate way to release a soul from the body . Davender Ghai , 70 , a world-renowned charity advocate in Britain , argued the practice is already legal under British law , but he sought clarification in order to hold such cremations in the future . Ghai tested the law in 2006 when he lit the funeral pyre of a man in the northern English county of Northumberland . He was never prosecuted , but the city council in Newcastle , where Ghai lives , promptly ruled funeral pyres illegal . Ghai , currently in India receiving medical treatment for what a spokesman described as debilitating high blood pressure and diabetes , said in a statement that he was saddened by Friday 's verdict and will appeal . He has said he hopes for a traditional cremation when he dies . `` I shall appeal until the very end , in the faith that my dying wish will not go unheard , '' said Ghai . `` A matter of such magnitude deserves to be heard by the highest courts in our land and I shall not tire until all legal avenues are exhausted . '' Current British law forbids cremation anywhere but in a crematorium . But Ghai points to findings by Judge Andrew Collins when , in 2007 , he determined Ghai 's case was important enough to go to trial . Collins said case law indicates that `` burning of dead bodies in the open is not necessarily unlawful '' and that the point is arguable in court . Opponents say open-air cremation is unsanitary and hazardous to health and the environment . Calculations based on U.N. estimates of mortality rates suggest that in India alone , 50 million trees are cut down each year to create funeral pyres , generating more than 8 million tons of carbon dioxide . Ghai has said he believes the practice is a religious right for Hindus , who consider open-air cremations essential to the peace of the soul . Such cremations are sanctioned by Hindu scriptures , according to the Hindu Council UK , which supports Ghai 's case . It says ancient Hindu rites stipulate that the body be cremated by means of a wood-fueled fire in an open-air facility exposed to daylight . `` We want equality , not exceptions , '' Ghai states on the Web site for his charity , the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society . `` No one expects Hindus to marry in a church , so why are Hindu funerals shoehorned through Chapels of Rest designed like Anglican churches ? '' Allowing open-air cremations in Britain would also save Hindu families money , Ghai says . Many British Hindus still prefer the traditional funeral pyre ritual and choose to ship bodies to India for a proper ceremony , which can cost up to $ 5,000 . Doing it in Britain would cost about a quarter of that amount , Ghai says . Britain 's Ministry of Justice has acknowledged Ghai 's case but does n't offer much hope for his appeal . `` There are inevitably competing views on the appropriate arrangements for disposing of bodies stemming from different views about religion , morals and decency , '' it said in a recent statement . `` There 's no plan to change the law on cremation . ''
Davender Ghai , 70 , argued the practice is already legal under British law . The case was brought by a man who said he had been circumcised as an infant and later regretted it because of its health risks for him. Officials : Cremations outside of crematoria are illegal under 1902 Cremation Act . Hindus consider open-air cremations essential to the peace of the soul .