The Supreme Court refused to hear a petition challenging the statute creating the lieutenant governor’s pre-eminence over the elected dispensation in overseeing services in the national capital on Monday, saying it was already preoccupied with a Delhi government petition.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra ruled that the Delhi government had already challenged the revised statute and that there was no need for a new PIL.

“What brings you here…The Delhi government has previously disputed it,” the panel stated, adding that it may consider charging the petitioner a fee, which resulted in the withdrawal of the PIL.

While declining to hear the PIL filed by lawyer Mukesh Kumar in his personal capacity, the bench made it plain that its decision will not “affect the pendency” of the Delhi government’s earlier case.

Previously, on August 25, the Supreme Court allowed the Delhi government to amend its case challenging the central government’s ordinance after noting that a statute was later enacted.