The criminal justice system (CJS) in India serves as the primary framework for maintaining the rule of law, ensuring accountability, and delivering justice to citizens. However, growing concerns regarding delay in justice delivery, low conviction rates, police excesses, lack of accountability, and public mistrust have raised critical questions about its effectiveness. This article offers a comprehensive evaluation of India’s criminal justice mechanisms, analyzing their structural, legal, and procedural dimensions. The article begins by outlining the constitutional and statutory framework that governs the Indian CJS, highlighting the roles of key institutions such as the police, prosecution, judiciary, legal aid bodies, and correctional services. It further explores measurable indicators of effectiveness, including timeliness of trials, accessibility, fairness of procedures, conviction rates, and public perception. The study identifies persistent challenges such as judicial backlog, inadequate police reform, weak forensic infrastructure, underfunded legal aid, and systemic discrimination. In addition to domestic analysis, the article adopts a comparative perspective by examining best practices from jurisdictions like the United Kingdom, United States, and South Africa. Judicial innovations and recent reforms in India, including digitization of courts, fast-track tribunals, and the Witness Protection Scheme, are critically examined to assess their impact. The article concludes with a set of policy recommendations that call for institutional reform, better resource allocation, modernization of legal processes, and a shift toward a rights-based, citizen-centric model of justice delivery. By evaluating the effectiveness of the criminal justice system holistically, this study emphasizes the urgent need for systemic transformation to uphold constitutional values and restore public confidence.