The prayer in the Original Petition is to quash Exts.P1 to P3 and Ext.P5, whereby the question of coverage under the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) was answered against the petitioner. The petitioner has also sought for a declaration that the petitioner-Society will not come within the purview of the above Act and for consequential reliefs.

2. The petitioner (Kottayam District Co-operative Hospital Society Ltd.) is a Society registered under the relevant provisions of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, which is running a C.T. Scan Unit, a Neethi Medical Store and a Clinical and Pathological Lab. It is the specific case of the petitioner that no treatment is being offered to any patient; that the petitioner is not at all a Hospital and hence that the petitioner will not come within the purview of coverage under the Act and the Employees Provident Funds Scheme, 1952 (hereinafter referred to as the Scheme).

3. Pursuant to the inspection made by the statutory authorities, the defects noted were made known to the petitioner, vide Ext.P2, pointing out that the petitioner had failed to comply with the var