The Centre’s stand that Kerala should first withdraw its suit in the Supreme Court to be issued money is tantamount to blackmail and choking the State financially, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal said on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Balagopal accused the Union government of putting pressure on the State to withdraw the suit, especially when its financial commitments are higher towards the end of a financial year. Kerala is entitled to the approximately ₹13,000 crore that the Centre has agreed to release in return for withdrawing the suit, he said.
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The State is entitled to this sum and it is unrelated to the court case, Mr. Balagopal said. “We are eligible for it even if the State had not opted to file the suit. Our stand is that we are entitled to around ₹25,000 crore under various components such as the divisible pool share and borrowing limit,” he said, adding that the Centre is displaying scant respect for the Constitution.
At the same time, the Centre’s insistence that the State Government should first withdraw the suit also proves that there is indeed substance in the State’s case, he said. The Centre is throwing a challenge to the people of Kerala in trying to prevent the State government from seeking judicial remedy, he added.
On Monday, the Supreme Court had decided to go ahead with the hearing the suit filed by the State government against the Centre. The case is listed for hearing on March 6 and 7.
