Akanksha Pandey, Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University
Abstract
The witness is allowed to state the facts related to a fact in issue or to relevant fact, but not his opinion or inference under the Indian Law of Evidence This rule is applicable to both criminal as well as civil law. The phenomenon of expert was also defined by the Supreme Court of America as a person who possesses knowledge and experience which is not possessed by mankind in general. An expert witness is a person who has studied in a special branch of learning and is especially skilled on those points on which he is asked to state his opinion. The expert opinion cannot form the basis of conviction and before admitting the expert opinion in the court, his competency must be established. The court is not bound to follow the opinions of expert blindly. A person becomes an expert by practice, experience and observation. If the court finds out that the conclusion reached by the scientists or experts is unsatisfactory, the court is not bound to accept it. The provision for relevancy of expert’s opinion is embodied under Section 45-51 (Chapter-II) of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
This article mainly deals with relevancy and admissibility of expert’s opinion and what is the value of expert opinion, medical opinion, opinion of handwriting expert, report of serologist, fingerprint expert opinion, polygraph evidence and various dimensions of expert’s opinion dealt under the law of evidence.
Keywords: Relevancy, Expert Opinion, Admissibility, Credibility, Polygraph evidence, Handwriting Expert, Rigor Mortis, DNA Test, Fingerprint Expert, Witness, Testimony, Ballistic Expert.
