New Delhi, March 13 (IANS) The Kerala government on Wednesday refused to accept a one-time bailout package of Rs 5,000 crore offered by the Centre before the Supreme Court.

A bench, headed by Justice Surya Kant, was hearing a suit filed by the state's Pinarayi Vijayan government challenging ceiling limits imposed by the Centre on the state’s borrowing.

Rejecting the Centre’s offer, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Kerala government, submitted that the southern state is entitled to borrow Rs 10,000 crore under the law and he is ready to argue the question of interim relief on merits.

He added that the conditions in the Centre’s offer are very stringent and based on the assumption that the suit is liable to be dismissed.

The matter is now scheduled to be heard on March 21.

In an earlier hearing, the top court had suggested the parties sit down together to resolve the issue.

The Kerala government has asserted that the state has the exclusive power to regulate its finances through the preparation and management of its budget and borrowings.

In a suit filed under Article 131 of the Constitution, the Kerala government has raised questions over the authority of the Union government to interfere with the powers of the state to regulate its own finances under several provisions of the Constitution

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