The Supreme Court will not hold a hearing to review a lower court ruling that backed the central government's move to relocate the Futenma air base within Okinawa, making it certain the prefecture will lose its case, sources said Monday.

Instead, the top court will hand down its ruling at 3 p.m. Dec. 20, the sources said. The lawsuit was filed by the central government in July as Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga sought to block the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a crowded residential area in Ginowan to the less-populated Henoko coastal area of Nago.

The Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court ruled in September that it was "illegal" for Onaga to revoke in October last year his predecessor's approval for landfill work required for the relocation plan. The Okinawa Prefectural Government appealed the ruling later in the month.