a. Indian Evidence Act 1872 u/s Section 45 defines experts as “When the Court has to form an opinion upon a point of foreign law, or of science, or art, or as to identity handwriting or finger impressions, the opinions upon these points of persons especially skilled in such foreign law, science or art or in questions as to identity of handwriting or finger impressions, are relevant facts. Such persons are called experts”
b. Section 45 of the Evidence Act 1872 makes the opinions of experts admissible. If the subject matter of the suit requires, any party may call a person as an expert witness on showing that the person has made a special study of the subject or has acquired a special experience therein. [See, State of H.P. v Jai Lal &Ors., (1999) 7 SCC 280]The appointment of expert may be suo moto by way of an order of the Court or if the expert witness is desired to testify by any party, then the expert is named by the said as a witness in its list of witnesses. The expert is then subject to examination in chief and cross examination in the same manner as per the procedure provided under CPC.
c. The Court considers the reliability of the expert witness based on his education, training, experience, memberships, affiliations, publications etc.
d. However, the opinion of an expert is not binding on the Court. [See, Chamkaur Singh v. Mithu Singh 2013 SCCOnline P&H 22840] As held in Titli v. Jones, AIR 1934 All 237, the function of the expert is to put before the Court his opinion based on all the materials so that the Court, although not an expert, may form its own judgment by its own observation of those materials
e. Like other witnesses, the expert witness is also subject to examination and cross examination in the Court.
The Apex Court in the case of State of Maharashtra v. Damu s/o GopinathShinde&Ors., AIR 2000 SC 1691 held that without examining the expert as a witness in Court, no reliance can be placed on an opinion alone. However, at the same time, the Court must be cautious while sitting as experts when expert evidence or report is required. [See, M. Radhakrishnan v. M/S. Surabhi Publications 2016 SCCOnline Ker 13198].
f. There is no specific code of conduct for expert witnesses however, for the opinion to be credible and to increase the evidentiary value of the opinion, the expert should provide all relevant data based on which the opinion has been made.