Sunil Bahri worked for the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for thirty-five years. He led compliance and value-for-money audits of government departments, commercial enterprises, and autonomous bodies at the union, state, and local body levels. He also worked on secondment in the Government of India in the Ministries of Environment, Defence, and Industrial Development (including Heavy Industry) and the National Knowledge Commission. He is a postgraduate of the Delhi School of Economics.