The Federal Court of India started functioning in:

The Federal Court of India, set up under the Government of India Act, 1935, started functioning on 1 October 1937.

Why the Federal Court was set up:

• The Government of India Act, 1935 proposed an All-India Federation of British provinces and princely states.
• A federation needs a court to settle disputes between the Centre and the units and to interpret the constitution.
• The Federal Court was created for this purpose.

Location:

It functioned from the Chamber of Princes in the Parliament House (now Samvidhan Sadan) in Delhi.

Composition:

• It consisted of a Chief Justice and not more than six other judges.
• In the beginning, it had a Chief Justice and two other judges.

Jurisdiction:

• Disputes between the Centre and the provinces or federated states.
• Appeals from High Courts in cases involving substantial questions of law about the interpretation of the Government of India Act.
• Advisory opinions on questions referred by the Governor-General.

Limits:

• Appeals from the Federal Court went to the Privy Council in London, so it was not the final court of appeal.
• Its jurisdiction was more limited than that of the present Supreme Court.

Transition to the Supreme Court:

• In 1949, the Federal Court was given wider appellate jurisdiction after appeals to the Privy Council were abolished.
• When the Constitution came into force in 1950, the Supreme Court of India replaced the Federal Court.
• The judges of the Federal Court became the first judges of the Supreme Court.

Hiralal J. Kania, the last Chief Justice of the Federal Court, became the first Chief Justice of India.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1935 is the year of the Government of India Act, not the start of the court.
• ✗1947 is the year of independence.
• ✗1950 is when the Supreme Court replaced the Federal Court.