was, in 1924, elected to the Central Legislative Assembly, the newly inaugurated lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council of India. Chetty represented Indian employers at the International Labour Conference in Geneva in 1928, 1929 and 1932. He was the Indian delegate at the Imperial Economic Conference held at Ottawa in 1932. In 1932, Shanmukhan Chetty was made Deputy-President of the Central Legislative Assembly and in 1934, made President, in succession to Sir Ibrahim Rahimtoola. Shanmukham Chetty served as President till 1935, when he had to quit his membership of the Central legislative Assembly after losing the 1935 elections. During his tenure as member of the Central Legislative Assembly, Chetty is believed to have enjoyed the support of Lord Willingdom, who once even referred to Shanmugham Chetty as his "god-son". Later political career Chetty served as Diwan of Cochin from 1935 to 1941. During his tenure, new reforms were brought in the administration of the princely state. Chetty introduced schemes for the improvement of Cochin port. He also tried to do away with Hindu religious superstitions and introduce Periyar's schemes. Chetty returned to Madras in 1941 and was succeeded by E. F. W. Dickinson. In 1938, Chetty visited Geneva as the Indian delegate to the League of Nations. He was also India's delegate to the World Monetary Conference at Bretton Woods in 1944. During this period, Shanmukham Chetty tried to revive the staggering Justice Party but failed. For a short period, he served as constitutional advisor to the Nawab of Bhopal. He also served as President of the Indian Tariff Board. Due to his pro-British views, Shanmukham Chetty was not included in the Constituent Assembly. When India got independence on 15 August 1947, he is reported to have said 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. However, due to conflict of views with Nehru, Chetty quit after a short time. Shanmukham Chetty is, today, remembered for presenting the first budget of independent India on 26 November 1947. Chetty returned to state politics and was re-elected to the Madras State Legislative Assembly in the 1952 elections as an independent candidate. Constituent Assembly Debates In the Constituent Assembly, Chetty he intervened on the issues of fiscal federalism. The Parliament House will join with me in