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When prosecution for perjury u/s 340 of crpc should not be i

When prosecution for perjury U/S 340 of CRPC should not be initiated against expert witness?

Expert evidence needs to be given a closer scrutiny and
requires a different approach while initiating proceedings under
Section 340 of CrPC. After all, it is an opinion given by an expert
and a professional and that too especially when the expert

himself has lodged a caveat regarding his inability to form a
definite opinion without the required material. The duty of an
expert is to furnish the court his opinion and the reasons for his
opinion along with all the materials. It is for the court thereafter to
see whether the basis of the opinion is correct and proper and
then form its own conclusion. But, that is not the case in respect
of a witness of facts. Facts are facts and they remain and have to
remain as such forever. The witness of facts does not give his
opinion on facts; but presents the facts as such. However, the
expert gives an opinion on what he has tested or on what has
been subjected to any process of scrutiny. The inference drawn
thereafter is still an opinion based on his knowledge. In case,
subsequently, he comes across some authentic material which
may suggest a different opinion, he must address the same, lest
he should be branded as intellectually dishonest. Objective
approach and openness to truth actually form the basis of any
expert opinion.
21. In National Justice Compania Naviera SA v.
Prudential Assurance Co Ltd (The "Ikarian Reefer")[1995] 1 Lloyd's Rep 455, the
Queen’s Bench (Commercial Division) even went to the extent of
holding that the expert has the freedom in such a situation to
change his views. It was stated that “if an expert's opinion is not
properly researched because he considers that insufficient data is
available, then this must be stated with an indication that the
opinion is no more than a provisional one. In cases where an
expert witness who has prepared a report could not assert that
the report contained the truth, the whole truth and nothing but
the truth without some qualification, that qualification should be
stated in the report”.
22. Hence, merely because an expert has tendered an opinion
while also furnishing the basis of the opinion and that too without
being conclusive and definite, it cannot be said that he has
committed perjury so as to help somebody. And, mere rejection of
the expert evidence by itself may not also warrant initiation of
proceedings under Section 340 of CrPC.
23. It is significant to note that the appellant’s opinion that
the cartridges appeared to have been fired from different firearms
was based on the court’s insistence to give the opinion without

examining the firearm. In other words, it was not even his
voluntary, let alone deliberate deposition, before the court.
Therefore, it is unjust, if not unfair, to attribute any motive to the
appellant that there was a somersault from his original stand in
the written opinion. As a matter of fact, even in the written
opinion, appellant has clearly stated that a definite opinion in
such a situation could be formed only with the examination of the
suspected firearm, which we have already extracted in the
beginning. Thus and therefore, there is no somersault or shift in
the stand taken by the appellant in the oral examination before
court.
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NOS. 9-10 OF 2016
(Arising from S.L.P. (Criminal) Nos. 7153-7154/2013)
PREM SAGAR MANOCHA … APPELLANT (S)
VERSUS
STATE (NCT OF DELHI) … RESPONDENT (S)
Citation; 2016 CRLJ1090 SC