Shun N. Chetty was born in 1941 in Durban. He was educated in Kwazulu-Natal and graduated in 1968 from the University College in Durban with a Law degree. He has been admitted to practice as an attorney in 1971. From 1974 up to 1979 Chetty practiced under the name of Shun Chetty and Company. During this time he was involved in political activities and acted on behalf of various members of the ANC, the PAC, the Black Consciousness Movement and in the Trial after the 1976 uprisings. In 1979 he fled South Africa, leaving the country illegally without a passport which was seized earlier by the police. In 1980 at the instance of the Law Society of the Transvaal, his name was struck off the roll of attorneys by the High Court of South Africa. While living abroad S. Chetty applied to the High Court of S. A for reinstatement as an attorney albeit unsuccessfully.

Chetty worked for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Geneva. He was also the Legal Advisor for Asia and Thailand. In 1995 Chetty moved to Australia where he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Refugee Review Tribunal. In 1998 he returned to South Africa and was the Regional Representative in Pretoria of the International Organization for Migration.

A year later he once more applied to the High Court of S.A. for reinstatement as an attorney in order to pursue a career within the legal profession. Chetty died in 2000 and was only reinstated posthumously in 2006.