State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, accused by Gov. Paterson of having “mismanaged” the huge state pension system, yesterday refused to respond in kind and instead lightly slapped the governor for using “silly season” rhetoric.

“I’m not going to get into a back-and-forth on that — we’re very quickly getting into the silly season,” said DiNapoli, who a day earlier angered Paterson by contending the governor’s state budget revenue estimates were overly optimistic.

“Whether for me as comptroller or the governor, it’s our responsibility at this time of crisis that we put the people’s interest first,” he said.