The appellant, Bhatinda Improvement Trust, framed a development scheme under the Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922. Notices under Section 36 of the Act were published in local newspapers and the ... Punjab Government Gazette in 1977. A notification sanctioning the development scheme was published under Section 42 of the Act on June 30, 1980. The respondents challenged this notification on the ground that it was not issued within the stipulated period of three years from the first publication of the notice under Section 36.