SUN TV family feud: What are the allegations in Dayanidhi Maran's legal notice to brother Kalanithi

Indian Express

5 hours ago

Former Union minister and DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran has served a legal notice to his elder brother, media baron Kalanithi Maran, alleging a series of fraudulent transactions since 2003 that the notice said had allowed Kalanithi to unlawfully gain control over SUN TV Network Limited.
This brings the long-simmering inheritance dispute within one of Tamil Nadu's most influential political and business families to a legal confrontation.
The legal notice, dated June 10, accused Kalanithi Maran and seven others, including his wife Kaveri, senior financial consultants, the family's chartered accountant, company officials, and close associates, of orchestrating what the it alleged was a calculated and unauthorised scheme to obtain a controlling stake in the family-promoted media enterprise.
The method, it alleged, involved fraudulent share allotments, forged documentation, and corporate misgovernance. The legal notice was issued through Chennai-based advocate K Suresh of Law Dharma.
According to the notice, the alleged transactions took place during the terminal illness of former Union minister Murasoli Maran, the father of Dayanidhi and Kalanithi. Murasoli Maran was in a coma and on life support from late 2002 until his death in November 2003.
On September 15, 2003, just days after Murasoli Maran was brought back to Chennai from the United States, Kalanithi allegedly allotted to himself 12 lakh equity shares in the then SUN TV Private Limited at a face value of Rs 10 each, the notice alleged. It said this allotment — allegedly done without board or shareholder approval — was carried out while the company's valuation per share was between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000, and when its reserves and surplus exceeded Rs 253 crore.
The notice alleged that this issuance of shares, which gave Kalanithi a 60% stake overnight, diluted the holdings of the original promoters — the families of Murasoli Maran and the late M Karunanidhi — from 50% each to just 20% each. The notice estimated that the fair market value of the shares at the time should have placed the total transaction at over Rs 3,500 crore, but Kalanithi allegedly paid only Rs 1.2 crore.
The notice further claimed that this marked the beginning of a pattern of fraudulent acts. On November 26, 2003, just three days after Murasoli Maran's death and two days before the issuance of his death certificate, 95,000 shares in his name were allegedly transferred to his wife, Mallika Maran, without the legal heir certificate or proper authorisation, in violation of the company's Articles of Association. These shares were later transferred to Kalanithi, it said.
Similar transactions are alleged to have taken place across other family-owned entities such as Kungumam Publications, Kungumam Nidhiyagam, and Kal Investments (Madras), all of which held a combined 2.85 lakh shares in SUN TV. These shares, too, were reportedly transferred to Kalanithi at Rs 10 per share. In contrast, shares purchased by him from M K Dayalu — former chief minister Karunanidhi's wife — were bought at Rs 3,173.04 per share in the same period, the notice said.
The notice also challenged disclosures made in the Red Herring Prospectus filed before SUN TV's 2006 IPO. It alleges that a Rs 10.64 crore dividend shown as paid to Mallika Maran in December 2005 was never disbursed, and that the IPO prospectus concealed the true nature of prior internal share transfers.
The notice claimed that proceeds from the alleged fraudulent transactions were used to fund investments in various ventures, including Sun Direct TV, Kal Radios, Kal Airways, Sun Pictures, South Asian FM, and cricket franchises like Sunrisers Hyderabad and Sunrisers Eastern Cape. These investments, the notice alleged, are 'proceeds of crime' under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The notice also cited specific bank accounts and claimed over Rs 8,500 crore was invested in Indian and international mutual and REIT funds.
The notice estimated that Kalanithi received over Rs 5,926 crore in dividends between 2003 and 2023, and Rs 455 crore in 2024 alone. It also referenced a payment of Rs 500 crore made to the Marans' sister, Anbukarasi, in late 2024 following an earlier legal notice dated October 7, characterising it as an attempt to privately settle and suppress legal consequences. The payment, it alleged, was routed through Mallika Maran's account and funded by SUN TV dividends.
The notice alleged that Dayanidhi, as a legal heir of Murasoli Maran, was denied his rightful share in the company and deprived of corresponding bonus shares, including nearly 6 crore bonus shares issued to Kalanithi in December 2005. It called for the restoration of the shareholding structure to its original status as of September 15, 2003, and the return of all dividends, assets, and proceeds derived since then to the original promoter families.
The Maran family's influence spreads across politics and business. The late Murasoli Maran, a sharp political mind and the trusted nephew of the late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, laid the foundation for the family's rise. For over three decades, Murasoli was the party's voice in Delhi and a key architect of its national alliances.
After his death in 2003, his sons took separate paths — Kalanithi Maran built a media empire and Dayanidhi entered politics. Kalanithi controls the Sun Group, a giant in South Indian television, newspapers, radio, cinema, aviation, and even cricket. Dayanidhi became a Union minister, pushing telecom reforms during the time of the UPA governments at the Centre. Later, however, he faced corruption charges.
Their blood relation to the Karunanidhi family had meant that the Marans' many tussles and disputes used to be contained and resolved internally. This has seemingly changed in the years since Karunanidhi's death in 2018.
Dayanidhi's legal notice invoked violations under multiple statutes, including the Companies Act (1956 and 2013), the Indian Penal Code (sections 406, 420, 467, 471, 120-B), the SEBI Act, and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
It stated Dayanidhi's intent to approach the Serious Fraud Investigation Office under section 212 of the Companies Act and file complaints with SEBI, the NSE, BSE, Registrar of Companies, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. It also proposed to seek the cancellation of licences held by the Sun Group across print, broadcast, radio, aviation, and sports sectors, including its media channels, the Sunrisers IPL franchise, and SpiceJet Ltd.
The notice further warned of possible prosecution against several senior professionals named in the document, including financial advisors, auditors, company secretaries, and former officials for their alleged role in enabling or covering up the transactions.
Kalanithi Maran could not be reached for a response despite multiple attempts to contact him. Neither SUN TV Network Limited nor any of the other recipients of the legal notice have responded to the allegations. Both Dayanidhi Maran and Advocate Suresh were unavailable for comment.