Hi Ben,
Exception got fixed after
<cache usage=""transactional"/>
tag in one of the hibernate class 
was removed from hibernate mapping file . and after application was deploed in tomcat 5.0: 
Also please not that, if 
hibernate.cache.provider_class=net.sf.hibernate.cache.TreeCacheProvider is replaced with following(coherence caching), everything works without need to change mapping file. And I was able to see cache keys(coherence) on web console(weblogic): 
hibernate.cache.provider_class=net.sf.hibernate.cache.CoherenceCacheProvider  I am using hibernate 2.1.8 & JBossCache 1.2. 
Here are the files: 
treecache.xml(don't know whether this correct at all): <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<server>
<classpath codebase="./lib" archives="jboss-cache.jar, jgroups.jar"/><mbean code="org.jboss.cache.TreeCache" name="jboss.cache:service=TreeCache">
 <depends>jboss:service=Naming</depends>
 <depends>jboss:service=TransactionManager</depends>
<!-- <attribute name="TransactionManagerLookupClass">org.jboss.cache.DummyTransactionManagerLookup</attribute>-->
 <attribute name="IsolationLevel">REPEATABLE_READ</attribute>
 <attribute name="ClusterName">TreeCache-Cluster</attribute>
 <attribute name="CacheMode">REPL_SYNC</attribute>
 <attribute name="SyncReplTimeout">10000</attribute>
 <attribute name="LockAcquisitionTimeout">15000</attribute>
 <attribute name="FetchStateOnStartup">true</attribute>
 <attribute name="EvictionPolicyClass">
 org.jboss.cache.eviction.LRUPolicy
 </attribute>
 <attribute name="EvictionPolicyConfig">
 <config>
 <attribute name="wakeUpIntervalSeconds">5</attribute>
</config>
</attribute>
 <attribute name="ClusterConfig">
 <config>
 <UDP mcast_addr="224.10.10.10" mcast_port="45566"
 ip_ttl="64" ip_mcast="true"
 mcast_send_buf_size="150000" mcast_recv_buf_size="80000"
 ucast_send_buf_size="150000" ucast_recv_buf_size="80000"
 loopback="false" bind_addr="127.0.0.1"/>
 <PING timeout="2000" num_initial_members="3"
 up_thread="false" down_thread="false"/>
 <MERGE2 min_interval="10000" max_interval="20000"/>
 <FD_SOCK/>
 <VERIFY_SUSPECT timeout="1500"
 up_thread="false" down_thread="false"/>
 <pbcast.NAKACK gc_lag="50" retransmit_timeout="600,1200,2400,4800"
 max_xmit_size="8192" up_thread="false" down_thread="false"/>
 <UNICAST timeout="600,1200,2400" window_size="100" min_threshold="10"
 down_thread="false"/>
 <pbcast.STABLE desired_avg_gossip="20000"
 up_thread="false" down_thread="false"/>
 <FRAG frag_size="8192"
 down_thread="false" up_thread="false"/>
 <pbcast.GMS join_timeout="5000" join_retry_timeout="2000"
 shun="true" print_local_addr="true"/>
 <pbcast.STATE_TRANSFER up_thread="true" down_thread="true"/>
 </config>
 </attribute>
</mbean>
</server>
jdbc.properties which is used to initialize hibernate configuration with spring: jdbc.driverClassName=org.hsqldb.jdbcDriver
jdbc.url=jdbc:hsqldb:hsql://localhost:1476
jdbc.username=sa
jdbc.password=
hibernate.show_sql=true
hibernate.dialect=net.sf.hibernate.dialect.HSQLDialect
hibernate.cache.provider_class=net.sf.hibernate.cache.TreeCacheProvider
#hibernate.cache.provider_class=net.sf.hibernate.cache.CoherenceCacheProvider
hibernate.c3p0.minPoolSize=5
hibernate.c3p0.maxPoolSize=20
hibernate.c3p0.timeout=1800
hibernate.c3p0.max_statement=50
applicationContext.xml of spring: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE beans PUBLIC "-//SPRING//DTD BEAN//EN" "http://www.springframework.org/dtd/spring-beans.dtd">
<!--
 - Application context definition for Petclinic on Apache OJB.
 -->
<beans>
 <bean id="propertyConfigurer" class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
 <property name="location"><value>/WEB-INF/jdbc.properties</value></property>
 </bean>
 <bean id="dataSource" class="org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.DriverManagerDataSource">
 <property name="driverClassName"><value>${jdbc.driverClassName}</value></property>
 <property name="url"><value>${jdbc.url}</value></property>
 <property name="username"><value>${jdbc.username}</value></property>
 <property name="password"><value>${jdbc.password}</value></property>
 </bean>
 <bean id="sessionFactory" class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate.LocalSessionFactoryBean">
 <property name="dataSource"><ref local="dataSource"/></property>
 <property name="mappingResources">
 <value>vz/esm/vcm/core/vcm-core.hbm.xml</value>
 </property>
 <property name="hibernateProperties">
 <props>
 <prop key="hibernate.dialect">${hibernate.dialect}</prop>
 <prop key="hibernate.show_sql">${hibernate.show_sql}</prop>
 <prop key="hibernate.c3p0.minPoolSize">${hibernate.c3p0.minPoolSize}</prop>
 <prop key="hibernate.c3p0.maxPoolSize">${hibernate.c3p0.maxPoolSize}</prop>
 <prop key="hibernate.c3p0.timeout">${hibernate.c3p0.timeout}</prop>
 <prop key="hibernate.c3p0.max_statement">${hibernate.c3p0.max_statement}</prop>
 <prop key="hibernate.cache.provider_class">${hibernate.cache.provider_class}</prop>
 </props>
 </property>
 </bean>
 <bean id="transactionManager" class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate.HibernateTransactionManager">
 <property name="sessionFactory"><ref local="sessionFactory"/></property>
 </bean>
 <bean id="DMS" class="org.springframework.aop.framework.ProxyFactoryBean">
 <property name="target"><ref local="compDMSTarget"/></property>
 <property name="interceptorNames" >
 <list>
 <value>pmTransactionInterceptor</value>
 <value>hibernateInterceptor</value>
 </list>
 </property>
 </bean>
 <bean id="compDMS" parent="DMS" >
 <property name="target"><ref local="compDMSTarget"/></property>
 </bean>
 <bean id="compDMSTarget" class="vz.esm.vcm.service.ComponentDMS">
 <property name="sessionFactory"><ref local="sessionFactory"/></property>
 </bean>
 <bean id="pmTransactionInterceptor" class="org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionInterceptor">
 <property name="transactionManager"><ref bean="transactionManager"/></property>
 <property name="transactionAttributes">
 <props>
 <prop key="get*">PROPAGATION_REQUIRED,readOnly</prop>
 <prop key="*">PROPAGATION_REQUIRED</prop>
 </props>
 </property>
 </bean>
 <bean id="hibernateInterceptor" class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate.HibernateInterceptor">
 <property name="sessionFactory"><ref bean="sessionFactory"/></property>
 </bean>
</beans>
part of hibernate mapping file is here:  <class name="Component" table="Component" discriminator-value="base">
 <cache usage="transactional" />
 <id name="uuid" column="uuid" type="java.lang.String">
 <generator class="uuid.string"/>
 </id>
 <discriminator column="type"/>
.......
 <set name="contacts" table="contact" lazy="true" cascade="all">
 <key column="component_uuid"/>
 <one-to-many class="Contact"/>
 </set>
 </class>
........
........
 <class name="Contact" table="Contact">
 <!--following line commented out for jbosscache. But works in coherence cache-->
 <!--<cache usage="transactional" /> -->
 <id name="uuid" column="uuid" type="java.lang.String">
 <generator class="uuid.string"/>
 </id>
........
 </class>
"Component" class has multiple "Contact"s (one to many relation) 
Does this one to many relationship has anything to do with nullpointer exception? Also I am not able to view contents of cache by running: build run.aop.demo Also in tomcat nullpointerexception stacktrace was different from weblogic with same mapping file (note:I am not sure whether, I tried different verion of jbosscache & hibernate in weblogic 8.1. ). 
here it is: 
ct contacts0_ where contacts0_.role_uuid=?
net.sf.hibernate.cache.CacheException: org.jboss.util.NestedRuntimeException: -
nested throwable: (java.lang.NullPointerException)
 at net.sf.hibernate.cache.TreeCache.put(TreeCache.java:70)
 at net.sf.hibernate.cache.TransactionalCache.put(TransactionalCache.java
:44)
 at net.sf.hibernate.impl.SessionImpl.initializeEntity(SessionImpl.java:2
227)
 at net.sf.hibernate.loader.Loader.initializeEntitiesAndCollections(Loade
r.java:315)
 at net.sf.hibernate.loader.Loader.doQuery(Loader.java:305)
 at net.sf.hibernate.loader.Loader.doQueryAndInitializeNonLazyCollections
(Loader.java:133)
 at net.sf.hibernate.loader.Loader.loadCollection(Loader.java:990)
 at net.sf.hibernate.loader.Loader.loadCollection(Loader.java:965)
 at net.sf.hibernate.loader.OneToManyLoader.initialize(OneToManyLoader.ja
va:93)
 at net.sf.hibernate.collection.AbstractCollectionPersister.initialize(Ab
stractCollectionPersister.java:288)
 at net.sf.hibernate.impl.SessionImpl.initializeCollection(SessionImpl.ja
va:3303)
 at net.sf.hibernate.collection.PersistentCollection.forceInitialization(
PersistentCollection.java:336)
 at net.sf.hibernate.impl.SessionImpl.initializeNonLazyCollections(Sessio
nImpl.java:3156)
 at net.sf.hibernate.loader.Loader.doQueryAndInitializeNonLazyCollections
(Loader.java:138)
 at net.sf.hibernate.loader.Loader.doList(Loader.java:1033)
 at net.sf.hibernate.loader.Loader.list(Loader.java:1024)
 at net.sf.hibernate.hql.QueryTranslator.list(QueryTranslator.java:854)
 at net.sf.hibernate.impl.SessionImpl.find(SessionImpl.java:1553)
 at net.sf.hibernate.impl.QueryImpl.list(QueryImpl.java:39)
 at vz.esm.vcm.service.ComponentDMS.executeNamedQuery(ComponentDMS.java:1
29)
 at vz.esm.vcm.service.ComponentDMS.getSMETitleList(ComponentDMS.java:153
)
 at vz.esm.vcm.web.CreateAtomicElement.populateSMETitleList(CreateAtomicE
lement.java:130)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.
java:39)
 at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAcces
sorImpl.java:25)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:324)
 at ognl.OgnlRuntime.invokeMethod(OgnlRuntime.java:255)
 at ognl.OgnlRuntime.callAppropriateMethod(OgnlRuntime.java:553)
 at ognl.ObjectMethodAccessor.callMethod(ObjectMethodAccessor.java:54)
 at ognl.OgnlRuntime.callMethod(OgnlRuntime.java:577)
 at ognl.ASTMethod.getValueBody(ASTMethod.java:84)
 at ognl.SimpleNode.getValue(SimpleNode.java:129)
 at ognl.Ognl.getValue(Ognl.java:335)
 at ognl.Ognl.getValue(Ognl.java:310)
 at org.apache.tapestry.binding.ExpressionBinding.resolveProperty(Express
ionBinding.java:201)
 at org.apache.tapestry.binding.ExpressionBinding.getObject(ExpressionBin
ding.java:194)
 at org.apache.tapestry.binding.AbstractBinding.getObject(AbstractBinding
.java:208)
 at org.apache.tapestry.param.AbstractParameterConnector.getBindingValue(
AbstractParameterConnector.java:105)
 at org.apache.tapestry.param.ObjectParameterConnector.setParameter(Objec
tParameterConnector.java:53)
 at org.apache.tapestry.param.ParameterManager.setParameters(ParameterMan
ager.java:105)
 at org.apache.tapestry.AbstractComponent.prepareForRender(AbstractCompon
ent.java:898)
 at org.apache.tapestry.AbstractComponent.render(AbstractComponent.java:8
53)
 at org.apache.tapestry.AbstractComponent.renderBody(AbstractComponent.ja
va:624)
 at org.apache.tapestry.components.Foreach.renderComponent(Foreach.java:1
22)
 at org.apache.tapestry.AbstractComponent.render(AbstractComponent.java:8
57)
 at org.apache.tapestry.AbstractComponent.renderBody(AbstractComponent.ja
va:624)
 at org.apache.tapestry.form.Form.renderComponent(Form.java:362)
 at org.apache.tapestry.AbstractComponent.render(AbstractComponent.java:8
57)
 at org.apache.tapestry.AbstractComponent.renderBody(AbstractComponent.ja
va:624)
 at org.apache.tapestry.html.Body.renderComponent(Body.java:269)
 at org.apache.tapestry.AbstractComponent.render(AbstractComponent.java:8
57)
 at org.apache.tapestry.BaseComponent.renderComponent(BaseComponent.java:
118)
 at org.apache.tapestry.AbstractComponent.render(AbstractComponent.java:8
57)
 at org.apache.tapestry.AbstractPage.renderPage(AbstractPage.java:300)
 at org.apache.tapestry.engine.RequestCycle.renderPage(RequestCycle.java:
371)
 at org.apache.tapestry.engine.AbstractEngine.renderResponse(AbstractEngi
ne.java:732)
 at org.apache.tapestry.engine.PageService.service(PageService.java:77)
 at org.apache.tapestry.engine.AbstractEngine.service(AbstractEngine.java
:872)
 at org.apache.tapestry.ApplicationServlet.doService(ApplicationServlet.j
ava:197)
 at org.apache.tapestry.ApplicationServlet.doGet(ApplicationServlet.java:
158)
 at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:740)
 at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:853)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(Appl
icationFilterChain.java:237)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationF
ilterChain.java:157)
 at org.springframework.orm.hibernate.support.OpenSessionInViewFilter.doF
ilterInternal(OpenSessionInViewFilter.java:117)
 at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerR
equestFilter.java:73)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(Appl
icationFilterChain.java:186)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationF
ilterChain.java:157)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperV
alve.java:214)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardValveContext.invokeNext(StandardValv
eContext.java:104)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.jav
a:520)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invokeInternal(Standard
ContextValve.java:198)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextV
alve.java:152)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardValveContext.invokeNext(StandardValv
eContext.java:104)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.jav
a:520)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.j
ava:137)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardValveContext.invokeNext(StandardValv
eContext.java:104)
 at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.j
ava:118)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardValveContext.invokeNext(StandardValv
eContext.java:102)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.jav
a:520)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineVal
ve.java:109)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardValveContext.invokeNext(StandardValv
eContext.java:104)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.jav
a:520)
 at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.invoke(ContainerBase.java:929)
 at org.apache.coyote.tomcat5.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:16
0)
 at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.process(Http11Processor.java
:799)
 at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.proce
ssConnection(Http11Protocol.java:705)
 at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.TcpWorkerThread.runIt(PoolTcpEndpoint.java
:577)
 at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.ThreadPool$ControlRunnable.run(ThreadP
ool.java:683)
 at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:534)
Caused by: org.jboss.util.NestedRuntimeException: - nested throwable: (java.lang
.NullPointerException)
 at org.jboss.cache.TreeCache.invokeMethod(TreeCache.java:3083)
 at org.jboss.cache.TreeCache.put(TreeCache.java:1758)
 at net.sf.hibernate.cache.TreeCache.put(TreeCache.java:67)
 ... 89 more
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
 at org.jboss.cache.eviction.LRUPolicy.nodeAdded(LRUPolicy.java:54)
 at org.jboss.cache.eviction.LRUPolicy.nodeCreated(LRUPolicy.java:92)
 at org.jboss.cache.TreeCache.notifyNodeCreated(TreeCache.java:3129)
 at org.jboss.cache.interceptors.CreateIfNotExistsInterceptor.createNode(
CreateIfNotExistsInterceptor.java:71)
 at org.jboss.cache.interceptors.CreateIfNotExistsInterceptor.invoke(Crea
teIfNotExistsInterceptor.java:43)
 at org.jboss.cache.interceptors.Interceptor.invoke(Interceptor.java:40)
 at org.jboss.cache.interceptors.ReplicationInterceptor.invoke(Replicatio
nInterceptor.java:51)
 at org.jboss.cache.TreeCache.invokeMethod(TreeCache.java:3078)
 ... 91 more
(web.FlushingSpringSessionInViewFilter 134 ) Using SessionFactory 'sessionFactor
y' for OpenSessionInViewFilter
Thanks in Advance, 
Hari