P.R. Ramachandra Menon, J.

1. Is the "Police protection jurisdiction" being exercised by this Court for more than two decades, alien to the scope and scheme of Article 226 of the Constitution of India and whether the aggrieved party should be relegated to avail the remedy before the Civil Court, notwithstanding the 'failure of duty' on the part of Police; forms the crucial question to be considered in all these cases. The answer to the said question will almost provide necessary answers to the points of reference as well.

2. The physical obstruction caused by the people of the locality against the erection of 'Base Transceiver Stations' ('BTS' or Mobile Towers in short) for facilitating easy access to the mobile phones to the customers, referring to 'health hazards' to the nearby inhabitants, gave rise to the cause of action for almost all the petitioners, who are either the mobile operators/licensees or the service providers, except in one case, i.e., WP (C) 36730/2009, which is styled as a 'Public Interest Litigation' filed by a person of the locality, seeking to shift the mobile tower already erected at the instance of the 6th respondent therein, referring to the various he