VIPs had lined up & the crowd was busy admiring the newly constructed three-storeyed red court building in Chikkaballapura, 60km from Bengaluru. But when the big moment came, something pleasant unfolded: The chief guest stepped aside & allowed an ordinary attender to inaugurate the building.

The episode unfolded on Saturday evening & the VIP who came to be admired for his kind gesture was Karnataka HC chief justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka.

"We have always seen judges straight-faced & sticklers for protocols, but Justice Oka's positive act is unforgettable," a senior lawyer said, narrating how the court's senior-most attender, Jayaraj Timoti, was allowed to cut the ribbon to mark the special occasion.

The incident not only left advocates & the public pleasantly surprised, but also stumped state medical education minister & Chikkaballapura MLA K Sudhakar. "Even I didn't know what was in store till I was there. I was trying hard to control my emotions, I tried really hard," said Jayaraj, who has put in over two decades of service as an attender in the judicial department.

Jayaraj hails from Eelam, a small village near Kolar. He served at courts in Kolar, Mulbagal & KGF, before reporting at Chikkaballapura in 2007. In the last twelve years, he worked under various judges in Chikkaballapura district court, including the current district & sessions judge, Amaranarayana.

Jayaraj said the fact that he was invited to inaugurate the building shows the simplicity of the present-day judicial officers. "I had no clue about this. As it was a grand function I was dressed neatly in the uniform meant for court attenders & was standing behind when an officer from the court told me to come up to the dais. I thought it was for some work. But the district judge introduced me to the audience & chief justice Oka told me to inaugurate the building. I fumbled for words & couldn't believe it," Jayaraj told News Agency. As Jayaraj looked baffled, chief justice Oka smiled at him & gave the nod.

More than the make of the building or the content of the speeches delivered subsequently, it was Justice Oka's gesture that became the talking point of the day. "Which judge would allow a junior-most employee to hog the limelight? These things happen only on silverscreen. But we saw it for real today," another court employee said. A veteran advocate in Kolar said there has been a wave of change in the judicial system in the last couple of years & the judges are now becoming more people friendly & trying to bridge the gap between employees & judicial officers.

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