The ruling establishment on Tuesday suffered twin blows in hearings related to the RG Kar incident, at the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court, giving Opposition parties in Bengal the scope to lash out at the Mamata Banerjee government.

The Supreme Court asked the state government to furnish details on civic volunteer hirings following the CBI’s chargesheet against Sanjay Roy, the prime accused in the August 9 rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar.

The high court scrapped the prohibitory orders imposed by the Kolkata police to restrict the Droha (protest) Carnival, planned as part of a people’s movement against the Puja Carnival hosted by the Bengal government onRed Road.

As the rally demanding justice for the RG Kar victim, in solidarity with junior doctors staging a fast for their 10-point demand, was planned adjacent to the Carnival venue, the police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS.

Following a petition by the junior doctors challenging the curb, Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur set aside the prohibitory order, eliciting loud cheers from the doctors and their supporters, who turned up in large numbers on Rani Rashmoni Road.

CPM leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said: “The police can’t allow a Puja carnival and restrict a protest organised by common people; this is not a constitutional step. That is why the court accepted our appeal.... The Mamata Banerjee government doesn’t understand that such illegal prohibitory orders only frustrate people.”

Leader of the Opposition and BJP MLA, Suvendu Adhikari, who participated in a protest march from College Square to Esplanade without a party flag, claimed that the protests overshadowed the state Carnival. He posted a photograph of “unoccupied seats” at the event chaired by Mamata.

“We will continue with the protest until Mamata Banerjee resigns,” Adhikari said after the protest rally was stopped at Subodh Mallik Square.

The apex court directing the state government to explain the civic volunteer hiring process, a BJP leader claimed, would expose how the appointments were tied to the TMC’s patronage. “We all know how civic volunteers play a role in polls. Sanjay Roy is not just anyone but a civic volunteer.... We expect the apex court will see how civic volunteers are part of Trinamool’s political machinery,” he said.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh praised the chief minister’s Carnival, calling it “brilliant”. He added some people with “no popular base” would now get to show their faces on TV in the name of the counter-event.