Infrastructure and Construction are the emerging sectors in India. Owing to the engineering technicalities and complex issues involved, many times intricate questions are raised before the Arbitral Tribunal pertaining to cause of action and assessment of damages. Hence, the opinion of the expert becomes indispensable in deciding the disputes.
Section 45 to 51 of Evidence Act, 1872 provides for relevancy of the opinion of the expert. The law on the admissibility of expert evidence is no longer res integra. The Supreme Court in the case of Ramesh Chandra Agarwal vs. Regency Hospital Ltd. and Ors (2009) 9 SCC 709, clarified that "Mere assertion without mentioning the data or basis is not evidence, even if it comes from an expert, where the experts give no real data in support of their opinion, the evidence even though admissible may be excluded from consideration as affording no assistance in arriving at the correct value.”