RELIANCE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LTD Vs. S I OF POLICE

JUDGEMENT

(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 Transeiver 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 health hazards and also inadequacy of safety measures.

(3.) Reference has been made by different Division Benches of this Court in view of the different views expressed at different points of time. As per the decision in Reliance Infocom Ltd. v. Chemanchery Grama Panchayat, 2006 4 KerLT 695, it was held that the 'Radio Frequency' exposures from Mobile BTS are much less than from Radio, FM Radio, Television transmissions and that the consensus of scientific community was that the radiation from Mobile Phone Base Station was far too low, to produce health hazards, if the people were kept away from direct access to the antenna and the over all evidence indicated that they were unlikely to pose a risk to health. Accordingly, the order passed by the concerned Grama Panchayat cancelling the 'permit' already given to erect the mobile tower because of the objection/apprehension as to the health problems raised by a group of people of the locality was set aside, simultaneously granting Police protection.