Ghananand Mishra was a Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

an lawyer and judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

. He was an Indo-Fijian of Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 stock, whose ancestors hailed from the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n state of Kashmiri

Kashmir

Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

.

Mishra served as Director of Public Prosecutions

Director of Public Prosecutions (Fiji)

The Director of Public Prosecutions was created under the Fiji Independence Act of 1970 and came into being that year. In 1990 and subsequently in 1997, the powers of the Office of the DPP were provided for in the Fiji Constitution, an entrenched document and the supreme law of the nation...

 before his appointment to the High Court

High Court (Fiji)

The High Court of Fiji is one of three courts established by Chapter 9 of the Constitution of Fiji—the others being the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The Constitution empowers Parliament to create other courts; these are subordinate to the High Court, which is authorized to oversee all...

 as a puisne

Puisne

Puisne is a legal term of art used mainly in British English meaning "inferior in rank." It is pronounced like the word puny, and the word, so spelled, has become an ordinary adjective meaning weak or undersized.The judges and barons of the common law courts at...

 judge. His interpretations of criminal law were pivotal in the development of Fiji's justice system. In 1973, the Leader of the Opposition

Leader of the Opposition (Fiji)

The post of Leader of the Opposition is a political office common in countries that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations. It did not originate in Fiji but has a long tradition; in British constitutional theory, the Leader of the Opposition must pose a formal alternative to the government, ready...

 nominated Mishra for the position of Chief Justice

Chief Justice (Fiji)

The Chief Justice is Fiji's highest judicial officer. He or she is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, who is required by the Constitution to consult the Leader of the Opposition. This does not give the Leader of the Opposition a veto, only the right to be consulted. ...

, in opposition to Sir Ronald Kermode, who was favoured by the government. In the end, Governor-General Ratu Sir George Cakobau

George Cakobau

Ratu Sir George Kadavulevu Cakobau, GCMG, GCVO, OBE was Governor General of Fiji from 1973 to 1983. A great-grandson of Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau, the King of Bau who had unified all the tribes of Fiji under his reign in the mid-1800s and subsequently ceded the islands to the United Kingdom in...

 appointed Sir Timoci Tuivaga

Timoci Tuivaga

Sir Timoci Uluiburotu Tuivaga is a Fijian judge, who served as Chief Justice from 1974 to 1 August 2002, when he retired. He was Fiji's first native-born Chief Justice.- Education and career :...

 instead.

Mishra resigned from the bench in 1987 following the coup

Fiji coups of 1987

The Fiji coups of 1987 resulted in the overthrow of the elected government of Fijian Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra, the deposition of Elizabeth II as Queen of Fiji, and in the declaration of a republic...

 on 14 May, led by Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka

Sitiveni Rabuka

Major-General Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, OBE, MSD, OStJ, is best known as the instigator of two military coups that shook Fiji in 1987. He was later democratically elected the third Prime Minister, serving from 1992 to 1999...

, saying, "I will not serve under those bandits."

In retirement, Mishra faded from public view. He devoted his time to his family, and to his lifelong passion of reading. He also made occasional trips to Kashmir.

Fiji's current Vice-President, Ratu

Ratu

Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...

 Joni Madraiwiwi

Joni Madraiwiwi

Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi is a Fijian lawyer, politician and was the Vice-President of Fiji from 2004 to 2006. He was sworn in on 10 January 2005, following his nomination by President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo and his subsequent approval by the Great Council of Chiefs on 15 December 2004...

, has called Mishra "a fortress of rectitude and integrity that was never breached."