'Peacock judge' Mahesh Sharma justifies views on making cow India's national animal in extremely awkward interview

The infamous ‘peacock judge’ is back again, this time in an awkward interview with CNN-News18. When asked about his viral peacock comments, the retired judge of Rajasthan High Court said, “This has been confirmed. Ask any animal husbandry director or doctor about this.” To which the anchor Zakka Jacob rightfully scoffs, adding that the only place where this is mentioned is in the Brahma Purana. [caption id=“attachment_3506767” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mahesh Sharma during an interview with News18. Image courtesy: Facebook screengrab[/caption] In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few day, the retired judge of Rajasthan High Court recently claimed that the peacocks produce offspring without having sex. That’s right. He said. “Peacock too has his qualities. He is a life-long celibate. He does not indulge in sex with peahen. The peahen gives birth after it gets impregnated with the tears of the peacock. A peacock or a peahen is then born… Lord Krishna used peacock’s feather for celibacy of the bird.” In this exclusive interview with CNN-News18, Sharma doesn’t particularly help his cause of making the cow India’s national animal. He asks the anchor, “If you were given an option to choose between cow milk and buffalo milk, which one would you choose?” When the anchor says cow milk, Sharma says proudly, “This is why I make the argument.” When asked what exactly he has against Royal Bengal tigers, Sharma simply said that his full judgement should be read to find out. Law website, Bar and Bench, has shared a copy of the 193-page judgment, which urges that cows should be given the status of a legal person and directs the state government and its Advocate General to be persons in loco parentis (in the place of a parent) of the animal. In order to achieve this, the court has asked the state government to connect with the concerned departments of the central government. The petition also suggests that punishment for cow slaughter should be increased to life imprisonment. Coming back to the interview in question, when Jacob urged Sharma to further justify his need for making the cow India’s national animal, Sharma laments about how cows have been suffering in the country. He was also petrified at the thought of the nation not having any milk left. Perhaps Sharma looked as tormented as the cows when Jacob pointed out that India is the largest producer of milk in the world. It’s quite poetic that Friday also happens to be World Milk Day. Also, as the current agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh pointed out during a celebration of this very occasion, “We have highest cattle population in the world. We are the largest milk producer in the world.” To these milky facts, Sharma goes on to point out how much cow milk gets wasted in abhishekams at Tirupati Balaji Temple. How he reached this point is beyond us. He then goes on to explain that these decisions “are not binding to the government” and that they are merely recommendations, and it is for the Advocate General to decide. Why Sharma chose to discuss this issue now with the current political climate is suspect. Perhaps, the cherry on the cake was when Sharma exclaimed that, “I am not a political man!” You can watch the full interview here:

When asked about the legalities behind the beef ban, Sharma was exasperated over the questions being forcefully asked to him. This “zabardasti” compelled Sharma to prematurely end the interview. If this story is making you feel some terrible things, knowing that these are the people who make life-altering judgments, you can at least be rest assured that Sharma retires on Thursday on 1 June, 2017. What might worry you is that the petition still lives on.