India's top court has ruled that all women army officers are now eligible for permanent commissions, allowing them to be in commanding roles. The ruling means that all women officers will now be on par with men when it comes to promotions, ranks, benefits and pensions. The Supreme Court rejected the government's plea to overturn the Delhi high court's order on the same matter. The ruling has been hailed as a "great leap" towards equality in the army. Many serving and retired officers had been campaigning for this. Women at the moment are inducted into the army through the Short Service Commission (SSC) and don't qualify for a permanent commission - which allows an officer to serve a full tenure. So women are initially meant to serve for five years, but have the option of extending their tenure. However, they don't get the same benefits as their male counterparts. The only exceptions are the army's legal and education wings, where women officers have been eligible for permanent commissions since 2008. The government last year agreed to give permanent commissions to women but said this would only apply to those officers who had served less than 14 years, citing physical limitations of older women officers. "The contentions of centre [the federal government] regarding the issue of physiological limitations and social norms to deny opportunity to women officers is disturbing and cannot be accepted," Justice DY Chandrachud said while reading out the court verdict.