AN APPEAL Court judge has refused to grant permission to the daughter of a covid19 patient who sought an order which would allow her to cremate her father in an open-air pyre cremation at the Waterloo cremation site as he wanted.

In decision delivered on Friday, Justice of Appeal Malcolm Holdip denied Cindy-Ann Ramsaroop-Persad’s application to challenge the Ministry of Health’s guidelines for funeral agencies which banned open-air pyre cremations for patients who died from covid19.

Ramsaroop-Persad had also asked for an order directing the Commissioner of Police to grant her a permit to allow her to cremate her father in an open-air pyre cremation. This was denied, as she has already cremated her father in a closed-cremation setting on August 10.

Holdip agreed to her application for her appeal to be deemed fit for urgent and expedited hearing. Her appeal will be heard as a substantive appeal on November 22.

Ramsaroop-Persad’s judicial review and constitutional claim will also come up for hearing in November, before Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams.

On August 3, Quinlan-Williams granted Ramsaroop-Persad permission to challenge the ban on open-air pyre cremations.

Ramsaroop-Persad’s father, Silochan, 77, died at the Couva Hospital and Multi Training Facility on July 25. His death certificate said he died of covid19 pneumonia, covid19 infection, hypertension and Type II diabetes.

The police initially gave the family a permit for his final rites at the Waterloo site, but this was later rescinded. The family was told it had to be revoked because of the ban on open-air pyre cremations for covid19 deaths. Open-air pyre cremations are allowed for those who did not die of covid19.

The judge did not grant Ramsaroop-Persad’s application for interim relief – to direct the CoP to issue a cremation permit in 24 hours so the family could have an open-air pyre cremation,

In support of her lawsuit, Ramsaroop-Persad said her father, a religious man, wanted to be cremated at Waterloo and his dying wish was for the rituals for Hindu cremations when he died. She said she assured him she would see his wish was honoured.

In the lawsuit, Ramsroop-Persad is claiming there appeared to be a blanket prohibition against open-air pyre funerals.

“The unfair and discriminatory effect of this ban is obvious as Hindus cannot cremate their dead in accordance with their religious belief and practice,” the lawsuit said.

She is also alleging that her constitutional rights are being breached by the prohibition, which she also alleges is arbitrary, irrational and unfair.

Her lawsuit says the measure disproportionately affects the Indian and Hindu community.

Ramsaroop-Persad is represented by attorneys Anand Ramlogan, SC, Jayanti Lutchmedial, Vishaal Siewsaran, Renuka Rambhajan, Natasha Bisram and Cheyenne Lugo.

The State is represented by Senior Counsel Fyard Hosein and Rishi Dass.

Ramsaroop-Persad’s claim includes an expert opinion by Dr Farley Cleghorn, a Trinidadian epidemiologist based in Washington, DC, who believes