Maran brothers fight it out in the open; Dayanidhi slaps legal notice on elder brother Kalanidhi

Chennai: Fissures within the family that owns Sun TV, one of the largest television networks in the country, have come out in the open with DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran sending a legal notice to his elder brother and group chairman Kalanidhi Maran and his wife over the company’s ownership.

Dayanidhi, a former Union Minister who held Telecommunications and Textile portfolios in the UPA-I and UPA-II governments, sent the legal notice to six others, including Sun TV’s company secretary Ravi Ramamoorthy, and auditor Sivasubramanian.

The notice alleged that Kalanithi allotted 12 lakh equity shares of Sun TV Private Limited at a price of Rs 10 each to his name “without sufficient, proper valuation and fair consideration, and without obtaining consent from all other existing shareholders – the families of Murasoli Maran and M Karunanidhi.

“In other words, No 1 of you (Kalanithi) allotted 60 per cent of the shares without any consultation or approval from the existing majority/promoter original shareholders at face value of Rs 10 each,” the notice said and sought restoration of the entire shareholding position as it stood on September 15, 2003.

The legal notice dated June 10 2025, which was seen by DH and sent by Chennai-based advocate K Suresh, alleges that Kalanidhi and his wife Kaveri commenced their “first illegal activity” in September 2003, days after the siblings’ father and former Union Minister Murasoli Maran was brought back to Chennai from the US, where he received medical treatment.

It also accused Kalanidhi of indulging in criminal breach of trust and cheating, and forgery coupled with criminal conspiracy, punishable under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. “These illegal actions demand immediate and rigorous criminal investigation and prosecution,” the notice added.

Accusing his brother of indulging in money laundering, Dayanidhi also threatened to approach the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting seeking immediate cancellation of all licenses held by Sun Group, and the Registrar of Newspapers for India with a specific request for the immediate cancellation of the registration and publishing licences of newspapers.

He also threatened to approach the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to seek the cancellation of the franchise licence issued to Sunrisers Hyderabad, and to notify the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the immediate cancellation of the operational licence granted to SpiceJet Ltd. The brothers were not available for comment.

Sources told DH that Kalanidhi and Dayanidhi have not been on talking terms for the past few years and the legal notice by the younger brother to his elder sibling brings to fore differences between the powerful brothers for the past few years, which have been doing the rounds as rumours.

Sun TV, which launched its operations in April 1993 from the DMK headquarters of Anna Arivalayam, has grown into a major network owning 37 television channels in 7 Indian languages with the reach of more than 140 plus million households across the country, besides a DTH (Direct-To-Home) broadcast service, 69 FM radio stations, three daily newspapers, six magazines and two sports franchises.

The notice said the intention behind the promotion of all the companies by the original promoters is to have 50 per cent shares each in all the businesses by the families of Murasoli Maran and Karunanidhi.

In the notice, Dayanidhi alleged that the company was in a healthy financial position and even as per the audited balance sheet the reserves and surplus of the company as on March 31, 2003 was at Rs 253 crore and that there was no need for any external funding either by way of private loan or by way of equity infusion.

“It is important to note till September 15, 2003, No 1 of you (Kalanithi) did not hold even a single share in the company. Suddenly overnight, No 1 of you had become a majority shareholder with controlling interest,” the notice said. It also accused him of abusing his position and authority to orchestrate a fraudulent and premeditated scheme, in gross breach of fiduciary duty, and in criminal collusion with seven people who have been sent notices.

By virtue of this illegal and fraudulent allotment, Dayanidhi alleged, his brother is deriving benefits by way of dividends to the tune of a huge sum of Rs 5,926 crores till 2023 and Rs 455 Crores in 2024 alone. “No.1 of you have allotted bonus shares to enrich yourself and the same is nothing but further proceeds of crime. Therefore, the offences committed by No.1 of you are continuous in nature and continue as on date,” the notice added.

Dayanidhi further said after his father’s death on November 23, 2003, he

told Karunanidhi that his brother would take care of everything and will do all acts beneficial to the family as my client’s father would have done.

“Anticipating potential inquiries in the future, all of you fraudulently and hurriedly transmitted the shares registered in the name of Thiru S N Maran to Tmt. Mallika Maran's name on 26.11.2003 without obtaining any death certificate and legal heirship certificate, which is a mandatory requirement for share transmission,” the notice said.

It added that the “illegal transmission was conducted with the sole fraudulent intention of facilitating your ability to transfer shares” from their mother to Kalanithi. Dayanidhi also alleged that Kalanithi “illicitly acquired” the shares of M K Dayalu, Karunanidhi’s wife, using funds drawn from SUN TV Private Limited, without providing any consideration for the said transaction. It is important to emphasize that, from the company's inception, no dividends were ever declared until 2005.

“My client states that if proper transmission had taken place, my client would also get necessary shares as a legal heir of his father and consequently, my client would have a say in bonus shares and also would have got sizeable bonus shares like no.1 of you in respect of his proportionate share holding,” the notice added.

He also said Kalanithi issued a “vague reply” without furnishing any particulars to a legal notice he sent on October 7, 2024 and alleged that his elder brother paid Rs 500 crores to their sister Anbukarasi towards part of a settlement and initial payment. No.1 of you routed this payment through the bank account of their mother Mallika Maran.

“This settlement and initial payment clearly demonstrate your attempt to evade repercussions for the fraudulent activities you committed and to conceal your criminal actions. These payments have been made by you again by using the funds of M/s SUN TV Network Limited by way of dividends,” the notice said.