Two Chief Justices of India Give Contradictory Evidence as to Indian Law

Shashoua v. Sharma is an interesting decision. Its a must read for those who want to know the (ill?-)effects of Venture v. Satyam (where the Supreme Court decided that it could set aside an arbitral award passed in international commercial arbitration held outside India). Apart from this very obvious aspect of the case, there is another notable aspect to the case. The English court hearing the case had to find out what the law in India was on a particular issue. As is well known, a question regarding foreign law is a question of fact, and not of law, and courts employ expert evidence to find out what the foreign law is. In Shashoua v. Sharma, two retired Chief Justices of India had given conflicting evidence on what the Indian law was on that particular issue!!!!