Home » National » Open To Negotiate Sans Conditions Centre Tells Sc Over Keralas Borrowing Limit

Open to negotiate sans conditions, Centre tells SC over Kerala’s borrowing limit

Attorney General told a bench of Justices Surya Kant and V Viswanathan that the Union of India is agreeable to holding a meeting with Kerala.

ByPTI

Published Feb 13, 2024 | 5:27 PM ⚊UpdatedFeb 13, 2024 | 5:28 PM

Supreme Court of India. (Wikimedia Commons)

The Union government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday, 13 February, it was open to discussion and dialogue with the Kerala government to resolve the dispute over a ceiling on net borrowing by the state.

Attorney General R Venkataramani told a bench of Justices Surya Kant and V Viswanathan that the Union of India was agreeable to holding a meeting with Kerala on the issue.

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The hearing

Earlier in the day, the top court asked Venkataramani to seek instructions if the finance secretary of the state could meet the Union finance minister and resolve the issue through negotiation.

“The suggestion falling from the court has received the highest regard that it deserves. The government is open to a meeting. Let’s keep it open without any conditions,” Venkataramani said.

The Kerala government has approached the Supreme Court accusing the Centre of interfering in the exercise of its “exclusive, autonomous and plenary powers” to regulate the state’s finances by imposing a ceiling on net borrowing.

In an original suit filed under Article 131, the Kerala government said the Constitution bestows fiscal autonomy upon states to regulate their finances under various articles, and the borrowing limits or the extent of such borrowings are regulated by state legislation.

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