In a bid to ensure free and fair assembly elections in Bihar in February, the Patna high court on Wednesday banned public display of firearms by candidates or their supporters.

"If candidates or their supporters are found showing off firearms at the time of nomination or during the campaign, their weapons will be seized and the licence cancelled," was the ruling of a division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Nagendra Roy and Justice Barin Ghosh.

If the order is violated, the officer-in-charge of the police station under whose jurisdiction such an event is reported should be taken to task.

The court's ruling came on a Public Interest Litigation by the Bihar chapter of the Indian Medical Association complaining about criminals targetting doctors for extortion and seeking security.

The petitioner's counsel M P Gupta told the court that public display of firearms by politicians to show their 'muscle power created fear in the public mind and adversely influenced free and fair conduct of polls'.