With the advancement in recent scientific technology in scientific area ,it is well accepted fact that the testified data or physical evidence obtained can be of no value unit it is properly interpreted the court of law.As we have saying that ‘law without justice is wound without cure’and to provide justice, we need to prove those testified credentials with proper written report (testimony) by the person which we called in our day to day life practice as ‘expert’.
Who is expert?
Acc. to sec 45 of Indian evidence act,1872-Expert is referred to that person who has special set of knowledge or skills in a particular field i.e.(fingerprint impression, handwriting,foreign laws etc.) and is called by court to give his opinion within his/her area of expertise.
What is expert testimony?
Expert testimony is presented in a legal proceeding when the judge lacks in scientific knowledge and has to form an conclusion on some special cases especially when is there is no eyewitness.Under such condition, the judiciary laws are relaxed and the conclusion are drawn from the opinion witness(expert) under sec 45 Indian evidence act,1872.
It is a kind of written report which includes:
· Basic information related to evidence
· Conclusion and opinion
· Valid reason for supporting the opinion to the fact of the case.
Credibility of expert testimony
Expert testimony is the ‘hallmark of corroboration’ which connects the evidence to the facts of the case and thus plays key roles in pursuit of the justice delivery. It plays a pivotal role in strengthening the procedural right and in proving the innocence or guilty of the particular person. The sanctity of the statements made by the expert is considered to be correct and factual by the judge as they are made by after the long analysis, experience and keen observation of the evidence. Credibility of the skilled forensic expert is like virginity; once it lost it cannot be regained. The most important point to be noted while deciding the credibility of the expert testimony depend on whether–Witness is gaining the correct information, he has curiosity in discovering the truth or, he has confidence in presenting his analyze testimony.
The credibility of the expert testimony lies in the fact of its relevancy, admissibility, and presence/absence of eyewitness.
Sec 45-sec51 Indian evidence act, 1872 is related to the relevancy in different evidence matter.
1. Sec 45–This section seals with the relevancy of the opinion of the expert and the expert witness may be cross examined in the court.
2. Sec 45(A)-Opinion of examiner of electronic device.
3. Sec 46- Facts bearing upon the opinion of experts.
4. Sec 47-Relevancy to opinion as to handwriting.
5. Sec 48-Relevancy of opinion as to existence of right or custom.
6. Sec 49-Relevancy of opinion as to usages and tenets etc.
7. Sec 50- Relevancy of opinion as to relationship.
8. Sec 51-Ground of opinion when relevant.
Sec 293 CrPc, deals with the admissibility of the expert opinion –This law states the expert opinions are admissible even without his presence in the court and court can call him for personal attendance if its fits to the court.
Presence or absence of eyewitness– In the absence of any eyewitness court rely on the analyzed facts and figure of expert opinion based on his observation, skills and knowledge as the expert opinion is of advisory character so it help in forming the decision or conclusion even though the value of expert opinion is of great value if the data collected is so great to falsify the oral evidence or ocular witness.
Difference between expert evidence and evidence of the ordinary witness
| Evidence of expert | Evidence of ordinary person |
| 1.Expert form his opinion regarding the handwriting,nature of injury,physical evidence analysis etc. | 1. An ordinary witness states the facts related to the what he has seen during the incident. |
| 2. It is advisory in nature. | 2. It is conclusive in nature. |
| 3.Court can’t pass the order of conviction on the basis of expert opinion. | 3. There may be chance that court can pass the order of conviction on the basis of ocular witness. |
| 4.Expert form his opinion on the basis of his skills,knowledge and observations. | 4. Ordinary witness form opinion on the basis of the basis of hearsay evidence or what he has seen or perceived. |
Case study:
NIRBHAYA vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH, 2012 –“rarest of rare case”
To understand the importance of expert testimony in criminal investigation. Let us look at the rape case which was solved after 7 years with the help of DNA, bite marks and fingerprints impression recovered from the victim body and from the place where incident happened. In 2012, a 23-year old girl was found badly injured and sexually assaulted in a bus in Munirka, South Delhi. Police collected all the physical evidence and interviewed her family, friends and possible suspects, and at last all the 6 men were caught, out of which one was juvenile and one person died during trial and the investigation continued for 7 years. The semen found on the cloth help in extracting the DNA and from the bus handle fingerprints was collected which shows the presence of driver in that brutal crime.All the evidence was tested and expert provide their testimony on the basis of which judged punished 4 of them with death penalty and the juvenile was sentenced to 3 yrs jail acc. to juvenile justice act.This and many other cases showed that how biological evidence play pivotal role in strengthening the importance and credibility of expert testimony in the absence of eyewitness specially.
Conclusion
From the above study we conclude that expert testimony help jury to draw an inference as the testified facts and data act as reliable advisory testimony, but expert opinion cannot take the place of oral evidence opinion unless the analyses substantial facts are so great as to falsify the oral witness. Percentage of credibility depends on the types of evidence to be testified.
References:
1. http://www.researchgate.net
2. 21th century –criminology –a reference handbook by J.H Michel miller
3. http://crim.sas.upenn.edu/fact-check/can-one-believe-forensic
4. http://www.forensiccolleges.com-cases-of-forensic-fraud-flawed-evidence
5 .Brandon L. Garrett and peter J. Neufed, “invalid forensic science testimony and wrongful convictions”, ,vol. 95,No- 1,2009,pp-8-29,
Author: Shivani Chauhan, Intern at Legal Desire (2020)
Highly ambitious, enthusiastic, multi-talented forensic student with an creative mind and inquisitive nature to gain experience in the field of cyber security, ethical hacking and forensic criminology. Looking forward to build her career in some forensic research worked as an expert. During her graduation in chemistry (hons.), she work as an organizer in SCM( supply chain management) conference and got 1 week training on flow cytometry in Jamia hamdard university . she is currently pursuing master’s in forensics and had attended international conferences on cyber security threats and counter measures and also working on research article to be published soon.
