He also served as President of India's Central Legislative Assembly from 1933 to 1935 and Diwan of Cochin kingdom from 1935 to 1941.

Shanmukham Chetty was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly of India and served as its Deputy President from 1931 to 1935.

After losing the 1935 elections, Chetty returned to South India where he served as Diwan of Cochin kingdom from 1935 to 1941.

Shanmukham Chetty was the Finance Minister of India when the country's first budget was tabled in Parliament on 26 November 1947.

[6][7] Shanmukham Chetty served as President till 1935, when he had to quit his membership of the Central legislative Assembly after losing the 1935 elections.

[10] Due to his pro-British views, Shanmukham Chetty was not included in the Constituent Assembly.

[10] When India got independence on 15 August 1947, he is reported to have said ... we have secured freedom from foreign yoke, mainly through the operation of world events, and partly through a unique act of enlightened self-abnegation on behalf of the erstwhile rulers of the country....Due to his expertise in economics, Shanmukham Chetty was chosen by the Father of the Nation, Mahathma Gandhi, against the wishes of Jawaharlal Nehru, to be the Finance Minister in independent India's first cabinet.

[10][11] Shanmukham Chetty is, today, remembered for presenting the first budget of independent India on 26 November 1947.

[13] [failed verification] In the Constituent Assembly, Chetty[15] he intervened on the issues of fiscal federalism.

A life-size bronze statue of Dr. Chetty was unveiled on the campus of R. K. Sreerangammal Kalvi Nilayam Higher Secondary School, Coimbatore on 6 July 2014.