WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 -- The US Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the US government to temporarily impose a ban on transgender people serving in the military, but stopped short of granting full legality of the move.

The decision handed the US government a temporary win in a one-and-half-years long legal battle on whether transgender people have the right to serve in the US military.

According to the decision, Pentagon can effectively block transgender people from enlisting as the case undergoes the legal process and until the court has reached a final decision.

The Supreme Court refused to decide whether the ban was legal.

The Supreme Court's decision was rare in that it was issued on top of a stay from a district court and before a mid-level court of appeals has had ruled on the case.

The Supreme Court's rules say it will only hear a case prior to court of appeals "only upon a showing that the case is of such imperative public importance as to justify deviation from normal appellate practice and to require immediate determination in this court."

US Solicitor General Noel Francisco, the top US official representing the government, argued that this case qualified such standard.

The Supreme Court reached the decision on a 5-4 vote. Four of the court's more liberal judges said they would not have agreed to hearing the case.

US President Donald Trump first tweeted the ban in July 2017, after which the Pentagon drew up a policy to implement Trump's decision. Two federal courts in the states of California and Washington then issued a freeze on the ban as the case is being battled out in court.