A march through the heart of Calcutta called by the doctors and several Left outfits on Tuesday afternoon got the Calcutta High Court’s green light on Monday.

The state’s advocate-general, Kishore Datta, informed the court Kolkata Police had granted permission to the doctors, the CPM students’ wing SFI, and the CPM youth wing DYFI to hold the rally.

The walk from College Square to Rabindra Sadan is likely to choke traffic in some of Calcutta’s traditional festival season shopping hubs like Hatibagan and New Market.

It is officially scheduled between 5pm and 9pm on October 1.

The rally should avoid the Esplanade stretch between Victoria House (CESC headquarters) and KC Das since the area is under the purview of Section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (erstwhile Section144 CrPC) through a police notification, Datta said in court on Monday.

Calcutta police commissioner Manoj Verma had issued a notification banning the assembly of more than five people or carrying lathis under the jurisdiction of a few police stations in the city from September 25 to November 23. The Esplanade stretch between Victoria and KC Das is under the purview of the clampdown.

The two frontal organisations of the CPM and the doctors’ body had last week filed separate petitions challenging the legality of the notification which they said was a ploy to stifle voices of dissent against the state government on the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital incident, where a doctor was raped and murdered on August 9.

Responding to the petitions, Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj had on Friday sought clarification from the state government by Monday.

The rally has been called to seek justice in the RG Kar case and protest against the “threat culture” in different state-run hospitals and health institutions, one of the organisers said.

Informing the court about the police nod, the advocate-general said: “The police have given permission to hold the rally but they have no idea how many people would attend.”

“According to the Supreme Court guidelines, peaceful rallies should be permitted but if any untoward incident takes place, the police would have to intervene. So, the police should have a definite idea of the number of people expected at the rally,” the advocate-general said.

At this, Justice Bharadwaj asked the petitioners’ lawyer, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, “How many people will attend the rally?”

Bhattacharyya replied: “A large number of people from every section of the society.”

Bhattacharyya also said at least 100 volunteers would manage the crowd and that the rally would keep off the Esplanade stretch under Section 163 of the BNSS.

The judge told Bhattacharyya: “Even then, you inform the police about the expected number of attendees of the rally.”

Justice Bharadwaj then asked advocate-general Datta: “A large number of people gather in big Pujas. Do the organisers give the police the number of attendees? I have noticed that volunteers control the crowd.”

The organisers of Reclaim the Night have called for vigils on the eve of Mahalaya to protest the rape and murder of the young doctor and demand a speedy probe and trial.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front has given a call for a “mega rally” on the day of Mahalaya that will start at a College Square and end at Esplanade.

The back-to-back rallies are likely to dampen festive shopping that is still recovering from a slump. Traders in New Market and Hatibagan fear a sharp plunge in sales because of the fresh protests.

“Since August 15, we have had only two weekends (the past two) of robust sales. The eve of Mahalaya and the next day, which is a holiday, usually see bumper business. But it seems we will have to count losses this year,” said Debu Bhattacharya, who owns a garments store in the New Market area.

The police said adequate arrangements will be in place for the rally on Tuesday.

“As the rally keeps moving, we will try to clear, one by one, the intersections that the marchers leave behind. Traffic diversions will be madealong the route ahead in keeping with the on-ground scenario,” said a senior police officer.