( 1 ) THE respondent herein filed a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution being in the nature of a public interest litigation in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh challenging the order passed by the State Government dated 31/12/1996, whereby the State Government has directed all the authorities constituted under the Madhya Pradesh Nagar Tatha Gram Nivesh Adhiniyam, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") to abide by all the orders/directions issued by the Government. ( 2 ) THE High Court was of the view that since the authorities are constituted under the Act, it is not open to the State Government to issue directions under S. 52 and 73 of the Act. Consequently, the order dated 31/12/1996 was quashed and the writ petition was allowed. It is against the said judgment, the appellants State of M. P. and Indore Development Authority are in appeal before us. ( 3 ) THE short question that arises in this case is whether under the provisions of the Act the State Government can issue directions to the authorities constituted under the Act. ( 4 ) THE Act was enacted with the object "to make provision for planning and development and use of land; to make better provision for the preparation of development plans and zoning plans with a view to ensuring that town planning schemes are made in a proper manner and their execution is made effective; to constitute Town and Country Planning Authority for proper implementation of town and country development plan; to provide for the development and administration of special areas through Special Area Development Authority; to make provision for the compulsory acquisition of land required for the purpose of the development plans and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid". ( 5 ) SS. 24, 52, 56, 72 and 73 of the Act which are relevant for our purposes are as under: "24. State Government to control development and me of land.- (1) The overall control of development and use of land in the State Government. (2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1) and the Rules made under this Act, the overall control of development and use of land in the planning area shall vest in the Director with effect from such date as the State Government may, by notification, appoint in this behalf. (2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1) and the Rules made under this Act, the overall control of development and use of land in the planning area shall vest in the Director with effect from such date as the State Government may, by notification, appoint in this behalf. (3) The State Government may make rules to regulate the control of development and use of land in planning area and non-planning area in the State and may, by notification, apply the said rules to any planning area from such date as may be specified therein and where the rules are made applicable to a non-planning area, such notification shall define the limits of the non-planning area: provided that different rules may be made for different classes of local authorities in a planning area, or non-planning area, as the case may be. (4) On application of rules to a planning area the provision of this chapter in its application to that area, shall be subject to the provisions of the rules. (5) On application of rules to any non-planning area, the following consequences shall ensue, namely: (i) relevant provision of the law relating to local authority empowering the local authority to control development and use of land or any other enactment under which the authority entrusted with the functions of development and use of land is constituted and the rules, or bye-laws, if any, made thereunder shall cease to apply to the area comprised within the limits of the local authority or any other authority, as the case may be; (ii) the local authority or any other authority whose function it is to control development and use of land under any other law relating to local authority or under any other enactment for the time being in force shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any such law or enactment, be bound to give effect to the provisions of the Rules made under this Act. 2. 2. Removal of difficulty.-If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of the rules made and applied under S. 24, as substituted by S. 3 of the Act, the State Government may, by order, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act remove the difficulty: provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of two years from the date on which the rules are applied to any planning area or non-planning area, as the case may be, under sub-section (3) of S. 24 of the principal Act, as substituted by S. 3 of this Act. 52. Powers of State Government to give directions.- (1) The State Government may, if it considers it necessary in public interest so to do, give directions to the Town and Country Development Authority- (a) to frame a town development scheme; (b) to modify a town development scheme during execution; (c) to revoke a town development scheme, for reasons to be specified in such direction: provided that no direction to modify or revoke a town development scheme shall be given unless the Town and Country Development Authority is given an opportunity to present its case. (2) The directions given by the State Government under this section shall be binding on the Town and Country Development Authority. 56. Acquisition of land for Town and Country Development Authority.- The Town and Country Development Authority may at any time after the date of publication of the final town development scheme under Section 50 but not later than three years therefrom, proceed to acquire by agreement the land required for the implementation of the scheme and, on its failure so to acquire, the State Government may, at the request of the Town and Country Development Authority, proceed to acquire such land under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894), and on the payment of compensation awarded under that Act and any other charges incurred by the State Government in connection with the acquisition, the land shall vest in the Town and Country Development Authority subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed. 72. State Governments power of supervision and control.-The State Government shall have power of superintendence and control over the acts and proceedings of the officers appointed under Section 3 and the authorities constituted under this Act. 73. 72. State Governments power of supervision and control.-The State Government shall have power of superintendence and control over the acts and proceedings of the officers appointed under Section 3 and the authorities constituted under this Act. 73. Power of State Government to give directions.- (1) In the discharge of their duties the officers appointed under Section 3 and the authorities constituted under this Act shall be bound by such directions on matters of policy as may be given to them by the State Government. (2) If any dispute arises between the State Government and any authority, as to whether a question is or is not a question of policy, the decision of the State Government shall be final. " ( 6 ) THE aforesaid provisions unmistakably show that there exists power of control with the State Government and the State Government is empowered to issue directions which have to be carried out by the authorities. It is no longer res Integra that while exercising power of control the Government can issue directions which have to be complied with by the authorities. It is a different thing that if any order passed by the State Government is contrary to law or otherwise invalid, in which event the same can independently be challenged in a court of law. ( 7 ) IN the present case, what we find is that the order passed by the State Government was an innocuous one and the same was in the nature of advice that directions issued by the State Government have to be complied with. We do not find any illegality in such an order. Therefore, the High Court erred in setting aside that order. ( 8 ) FOR the aforesaid reasons, we are of the view that the judgment and order under challenge is liable to be set aside. It is directed accordingly. However, before parting, we would like to observe that in case any order has been passed by the State Government which is contrary to law or repugnant to the provisions of the Act in question or any other Act, it is always open to a party to challenge the same before an appropriate forum. The appeal is allowed. There shall be no order as to costs.