The New York City Police Department can refuse to reveal whether it put two Muslim men under surveillance after a ruling by the state Court of Appeals.

In 2012, a Manhattan imam and a former Rutgers Univesity student filed separate Freedom of Information Law requests.

They sought records the NYPD had on surveillance or an investigation.

The department responded by saying it could "neither confirm nor deny that any records existed."

The men filed a lawsuit challenging the NYPD's surveillance of Muslim groups in New York and New Jersey following the September 11th terrorist attacks.

The Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling in a 4-3 decision, saying the NYPD acted properly in handling those FOIL requests.