JUDGMENT :

Raja Vijayaraghavan V., J.

1. The petitioner herein is a Co-operative society registered under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969. By Ext. P1 order, an assessment order was passed by the 1st respondent under Section 7A of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act ('EPF Act', for short). According to the petitioner, the society is exempted from the provisions of the EPF Act in view of the provisions of the Cooperative Societies Act and the Rules framed thereunder. Raising various contentions, Ext. P1 order was challenged before the Appellate Tribunal under Section 7(1) of the EPF Act. Application for stay was also filed by the petitioner as is evidenced from Ext. P3. According to the petitioner, due to unforeseen circumstances including the illness of the Secretary, they were unable to appear before the Tribunal when the matter had come up for hearing. The Tribunal proceeded to dismiss the appeal for default. Seeking restoration of the appeal, Ext. P6 application was filed under Rule 15(2) of the Employees' Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1997. The grievance of the petitioner is that despite the pendency of the application