The Federal Court of India, set up under the Government of India Act, 1935, began functioning in which year and under which first Chief Justice?
- A.1935, Sir Elijah Impey
- B.1937, Sir Maurice Gwyer
- C.1939, Sir Harilal Kania
- D.1947, Sir Patrick Spens
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, 1937 and Sir Maurice Gwyer. The Government of India Act of 1935 provided for a Federal Court to settle disputes between the centre and the provinces and to hear appeals on constitutional questions, and the court began sitting at Delhi in 1937 with Sir Maurice Gwyer as its first Chief Justice. Option A is wrong on both counts: 1935 is the year of the Act, not of the court, and Sir Elijah Impey was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at Calcutta in 1774. Option C names Sir Harilal Kania, who was the last Chief Justice of the Federal Court and then the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India. Option D names Sir Patrick Spens, who was a later Chief Justice of the Federal Court, so the year and the name do not go together.
Read the full article: British Administration in India: Services, Police and Courts
Practice Questions
View allWho among the following is called the father of the civil services in India?
- A.Warren Hastings
- B.Lord Cornwallis
- C.Lord Wellesley
- D.Lord Dalhousie
Show answer
Cornwallis, Governor General from 1786 to 1793, is called the father of the civil services in India because he fixed adequate salaries for the Company's servants, forbade them from carrying on private trade or taking presents, and made promotion depend on seniority instead of patronage, which together turned a trading…
Read the full explanation →Which Charter Act ended the patronage of the Company and introduced open competition for recruitment to the civil service?
- A.Charter Act of 1793
- B.Charter Act of 1813
- C.Charter Act of 1853
- D.Charter Act of 1833
Show answer
This Act took away the Company's right to nominate its civil servants and threw recruitment open to competition, after which the committee headed by Lord Macaulay in 1854 settled the syllabus and the first competitive examination was held in London in 1855.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first Indian to join the Indian Civil Service?
- A.Romesh Chunder Dutt
- B.Satyendranath Tagore
- C.Surendranath Banerjee
- D.Anandamohan Bose
Show answer
Satyendranath Tagore, an elder brother of Rabindranath Tagore, succeeded in the London examination and joined the Indian Civil Service in 1864, nine years after the first competitive examination was held, and served in the Bombay Presidency.
Read the full explanation →Which Act laid the foundation of the modern police system in India?
- A.The Government of India Act, 1858
- B.The Indian Police Act, 1861
- C.The Indian Evidence Act, 1872
- D.The Indian Councils Act, 1892
Show answer
Passed on the advice of the Police Commission of 1860, this Act gave every province an Inspector General, every range a Deputy Inspector General and every district a Superintendent of Police working under the district magistrate, with the village chowkidar at the base, and that structure is still recognisable in…
Read the full explanation →The Indian Police Commission of 1902-03, known as the Fraser Commission, recommended the creation of which body?
- A.A Department of Criminal Intelligence
- B.The Imperial Police Service
- C.A Federal Court of India
- D.A Public Service Commission
Show answer
The commission appointed in 1902 under Sir Andrew Fraser reported in 1903 and asked for better pay, training schools, the recruitment of Indians as officers and a central agency to collect and share criminal intelligence; the Department of Criminal Intelligence was created in 1903 and grew into the central intelligence…
Read the full explanation →