A forum of senior doctors began its sit-in at Esplanade late on Friday night, hours after Calcutta High Court conditionally allowed its plea for permission.

On an overcast and, often wet, Saturday, the number of people at the Joint Platform of Doctors (JPD) protest site did not touch 100 at any point.

During the last round of protests by the junior doctors, there were over 500 people at the venue.

The high court asked the JPD to ensure that the number of people at the protests did not go beyond 250.

The cordoned-off area was also much smaller than the area on the Metro channel that had been cordoned off when some junior doctors were on a hunger strike between October 5 and October 21.

Multiple CCTV cameras on the Metro channel, the stretch of Chowringhee Road opposite Metro Cinema, were recording every move by those at the sit-in.

Members of the JPD were heard telling those coming to the protests that they should not stand beyond the guard rails placed by the police.

“We are following all the directions passed by Calcutta High Court. We will not violate any of the conditions imposed on us,” said Tamonas Chaudhuri, a member of JPD. “We want to set an example that protests can be done without breaking the law or delivering inciting speeches,” Chaudhuri said, standing in front of the dais.

The sit-in will continue round-the-clock till December 26. Cots, blankets and pillows had been stacked at the back of the dais for those who would spend the night at the site.

“We all need answers to our question about why the CBI has not been able to produce a supplementary chargesheet. We are also asking the state government why it is not giving consent to the prosecution of Sandip Ghosh (former principal of RG Kar Medical College) and Ashis Pandey (former house staff of RG Kar) in the probe related to alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar,” a protester said from the dais.

Debashis Haldar, a junior doctor at Medical College Kolkata and a face of the junior doctors’ protests that were at their peak between August and October, was among those at the sit-in on Saturday evening.

“Someone from the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) will be present here every day. It is painful that even after our long protests nothing has changed,” he said.