India's Supreme Court intervened this month on the dangers of impunity, the legitimacy of the government in one of India's most prosperous states, and the integrity of the judicial system itself. It did so in the form of a stinging reprimand for the Gujarat government's failure to bring to justice a single murderer after a pogrom last year in which as many as 2,000 Muslims were killed. On September 19th, Gujarat's police chief and top civil servant were due to appear before the court. They were to be asked to show that the state is serious about prosecuting 21 Hindus accused of burning 14 Muslims to death in the Best Bakery in the town of Vadodara on March 1st last year. The accused were acquitted after almost 40 witnesses withdrew their evidence. Suspicions of intimidation were further strengthened when Zaheera Sheikh, an 18-year-old witness, said that, out of fear, she had lied under oath. India's National Human Rights Commission petitioned the Supreme Court, asking for a retrial in another state. Apparently to forestall this, the prosecution in Gujarat appealed against the acquittals. They did it so amateurishly, however, as to enrage the Supreme Court. Human-rights activists, however, will not celebrate until the Supreme Court orders a retrial outside Gujarat, ending what T.R. Andhyarujina, a legal counsel for the commission, calls the prevailing climate of intimidation, insecurity and tension for the witnesses.