 Chatterji was born on 26 November 1890 at Shibpur in Howrah.He was the son of Haridas Chattopadhyay, an affluent Kulin Brahmin.Suniti Kumar was a meritorious student, and passed the Entrance (school leaving) examination from the Mutty Lal Seal's Free School (1907), ranking sixth, and the FA (pre-university examination) from the renowned Scottish Church College, standing third.