Kolkata: Thousands of slogan-shouting protestors belonging to Leftist youth and student's bodies on October 13 marched through a main thoroughfare of the city throwing the vehicular traffic out of gear in defiance of the Calcutta High Court's earlier order banning rallies and processions on weekdays.

The protestors, belonging to the students and youth wings of the Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPM) and other Left Front constituents, carried placards and festoons and raised slogans against Justice Amitava Lala and described his September-29 order of banning rallies as "undemocratic ruling".

The rallyists, numbering about 15,000 to 20,000, marched through the busy College Street, Bowbazar, Central Avenue and Esplanade before converging at Rani Rasmoni road in downtown Kolkata for the biggest-ever rally since Justice Lala passed the order.

The order by Justice Lala, however, had already been stayed by a Division Bench of Calcutta High Court on October 13 on an appeal by the West Bengal government.

The rally, which has been scheduled a week ago to defy the ban order, was on its last leg when the news of the stay came amidst rejoicing by the participants.

"We are on the streets today to protect our Democratic rights to register our voice of protest. The rallies and processions will continue till there are hunger, poverty and illiteracy. No ruling as such can stop us from exercising our Democratic right," the state secretary of SFI, student wing of the CPM, Apurba Chatterjee, told the gathering.

PTI