CHENNAI: Chennai Central DMK MP and former Union minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi Maran who owns the Sun media empire have initiated the process to amicably settle the dispute, based on the advice and intervention of their uncle and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, sources said.
The dispute between the brothers came out in the open last month, with Dayanidhi issuing a legal notice to his brother and seven others on June 10 with grave allegations, accusing Kalanithi of appropriating the full control of the company through fraudulent and illegal means during the demise of their father and former Union Minister Murasoli Maran in 2003.
In a nutshell, Dayanidhi had alleged that Kalanithi, who was merely an employee and not a shareholder of the company until their father’s demise, took full control of the group, thereby denying rightful share to the other legal heirs, which included himself, his mother Mallika Maran and sister Anbukkarasi.
According to sources, DMK president Stalin did not want the high profile dispute to play out in the public or in the courts, especially with the assembly elections less than a year away.
TNIE has learnt that the Chief Minister intervened earlier as well, but there was no breakthrough, following which Dayanidhi sent the legal notice on June 10. Their sister Anbukkarasi was also part of the recent efforts to arrive at a solution, sources said.
A well-known media personality with distant family ties with Marans was also reportedly involved in the mediation process between the two brothers. Although the settlement is yet to be formalised, sources said that the agreement involved Kalanithi paying Dayanidhi several hundred crores, but not any shareholding in the Sun TV Private Limited, the parent company of the group.
It is noteworthy that Dayanidhi’s legal notice highlighted Kalanithi already paying Rs 500 crore to his sister Anbukkarasi “towards part of a settlement and initial payment”. The notice said this happened after Dayanidhi’s earlier legal notice sent on October 7, 2024, for which Kalanithi “issued a vague reply”.
“This settlement and initial payment clearly demonstrate your (Kalanithi) attempt to evade repercussions for the fraudulent activities you committed and to conceal your criminal actions,” it had said.
Stalin’s concerns over potential damage the dispute playing out in public could cause in an election year is not unfounded since the dispute between the Maran family and former Union minister and Stalin’s brother MK Alagiri in 2007 contributed significantly to the anti-incumbency against the then DMK government led by M Karunanidhi. It strengthened the negative perception of “family” being the Achilles' heel of the late leader.
The conduct of Maran brothers, who published a survey showing Alagiri in a poor light in May 2007 in a Sun group owned Tamil daily, not only resulted in a violent attack of the daily’s office in Madurai in which three persons were killed, but highly disappointed Karunanidhi.
Days after the incident Dayanidhi stepped down as Union Minister, who was handling the powerful portfolio of communications and information technology. It was only after around two years that the Maran brothers reconciled with their grand uncle Karunanidhi, following which Dayanidhi became Union Minister of Textiles in 2009.
In the legal notice in June, Dayanidhi had contended that the entire earnings through the ownership of the Sun Group by Kalanithi amounted to “proceeds of crime” and threatened to to initiate criminal complaints with central agencies like the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, Securities and Exchange Board of India, and importantly the Enforcement Directorate, which is already pursuing probes against DMK leaders like V Senthil Balaji and KN Nehru.
With the brothers now inclined to settle the issue amicably, the serious allegations of money laundering, cheating, falsification of records, and misleading the sharemarkets are likely to be given a silent burial.
The news of the settlement, however, did not have a noticeable impact on the sharemarkets with Sun TV Network Limited’s shares continuing to see a drop of nearly 10 % (around Rs 60) in the last one month at the National Stock Exchange.
Attempts to reach Dayanidhi and Kalanithi for their comments were not successful. The CM’s office said they were not aware of the developments.