In Brief
The appellant, Surinder Kumar Khanna, was convicted of drug trafficking under the NDPS Act based primarily on confessional statements made by co-accused individuals arrested with contraband. The Supreme Court held that in the absence of independent substantive evidence, a co-accused's confession cannot form the sole basis of conviction. The Court applied the established principle that such confessions can only 'lend assurance' to other credible evidence. Finding no independent evidence linking the appellant to the crime, the Court allowed the appeal, set aside the conviction and sentence, and acquitted the appellant.
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