Shimla, April 10 -- The Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the Secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha to release due pension and arrears to former legislators within one month, cautioning that any delay will invite interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum.

The directions were issued by a Division Bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Ranjan Sharma while disposing of two writ petitions filed by former MLAs Rajinder Rana and Ravi Thakur, who had sought release of their pensionary benefits.

During the proceedings, the court was informed through a communication placed on record by the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Secretariat that the earlier amendment, Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Allowances an...