The Calcutta High Court has upheld a single judge's ruling permitting a peaceful sit-in protest by the joint forum of doctors in response to the horrific rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

A division bench consisting of Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, however, modified the single judge's order by reducing the permitted attendance at the protest to 100 doctors, down from the initially approved 250.

This change was made in response to the state's appeal, citing concerns that the protest could block major roads and create significant difficulties for commuters during the busy Christmas period.

"Every citizen of a country has a right to make a peaceful protest provided a sufficient safeguard is taken in this regard which does not encroach upon the rights of the people at large. There has been a nationwide protest in relation to such unprecedented incident and the Doctors forum being a responsible citizen of the country are aware that any protest which would cause inconvenience or encroach upon the rights of the parties are not acceptable. Every citizen of the country has a right to make a peaceful protest and, therefore, while refusing to grant such permission, the authorities must also bear in mind the other past incidents where the permission was granted."

Case: The State of West Bengal & ors. Vs. Joint Platform of Doctors & anr

Case No: MAT 2345 of 2024