The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a petition challenging Article 370 of the Constitution, saying the points raised in it are already part of pending pleas, PTI reported. The provision grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The court asked the petitioners – advocates Vijay Mishra and Sandeep Lamba – to instead file an application for impleadment.

Mishra and Lamba urged the court to declare that Article 370 had lapsed with the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir on January 26, 1957. They also requested the court to declare Jammu and Kashmir’s separate Constitution “arbitrary, unconstitutional and void”, PTI reported. Having two parallel constitutions “reeks of a weird dichotomy” as most of the provisions of the Indian Constitution have already been extended to the state, they added.

Earlier in November, the Supreme Court had adjourned till April the hearing of another petition challenging the constitutional validity of Article 370 following a request by the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Centre, concerned that it would worsen the law and order situationjust as the state was preparing for panchayat polls. The elections are scheduled to end on December 11.