HARRISBURG — A judge said Thursday he will not stop the administration of Gov. Tom Corbett from dipping into money that in the past had helped pay for Pennsylvania’s now-shuttered health-care plan for more than 41,000 low-income adults.

Commonwealth Court Senior Judge James Kelley denied a motion to order the state treasurer to hold on to Pennsylvania’s annual deposit of money from a 1998 settlement with major cigarette manufacturers.

The underlying lawsuit, filed last month and still pending, alleges that tobacco settlement money set aside for the plan known as adultBasic has been unlawfully diverted for other purposes.

The suit asks the court to force Corbett to resurrect adultBasic. The plaintiffs are 75 people who were covered by adultBasic before Corbett terminated it Feb. 28.

Kelly’s one-page order did not explain why he denied the motion. The Corbett administration has said the suit has no merit, and a spokesman said Thursday evening that it would continue with its plans to use the money.

AdultBasic was to cost $164 million in this fiscal year, but funding fell about $55 million short, according to state officials. Corbett, a Republican, has said adultBasic was not financially sustainable and that he had no choice but to end it as his new administration addresses a projected multibillion-dollar deficit in the fiscal year that begins July 1.