CHENNAI: DMK’s Chennai Central MP Dayanidhi Maran has sent a legal notice to his brother Kalanithi Maran, who owns the Sun media empire, accusing him of taking over the company through fraudulent and illegal transfer of shares just before and after the demise of their father, DMK leader and former union minister, Murasoli Maran in November 2003.
The legal notice, with explosive allegations, has brought to the fore the rift within the DMK’s first family. Murasoli Maran was the nephew and close aide of late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, who famously called Maran his “conscience”.
Dayanidhi, in his notice sent through his lawyer on June 10, 2025, has contended that the entire earnings through the ownership of the Sun Group by Kalanithi amounted to “proceeds of crime” since the transfer of shares itself was illegal. He threatened to initiate criminal complaints with competent authorities, including the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the Enforcement Directorate, for offences of cheating, conspiracy, misleading the stock exchanges through falsification of information, and money laundering, against Kalanithi, his wife Kaveri Maran, and six others closely associated with the group of companies, including its Company Secretary Ravi Ramamoorthy.
To avoid such actions, Dayanidhi has demanded his brother restore the entire shareholding position of the Sun TV Network Limited and related companies to their original state as it stood on September 15, 2003. That was the day Kalanithi first became the shareholder by allotting 12 lakh equity shares of Sun TV Private Limited (as it was called at that time) to himself illegally.
Dayanidhi claimed the shares of the entire group should be reinstated to their rightful owners, which included MK Dayalu Ammal, mother of Chief Minister MK Stalin, and the legal heirs of Murasoli Maran, namely Dayanidhi, his mother Mallika, and sister Anbukarasi.
According to the allegations made in the legal notice, the original shareholders of Sumangali Publications Private Limited, incorporated in 1985, which later grew into the Sun TV empire, were Dayalu and Mallika, with Murasoli Maran becoming a shareholder in 1995.
Dayanidhi alleged that right from the beginning Kalanithi remained only a salaried employee of the company since his father “had absolutely no intention to allot even a single share” to the latter.
“It is important to note till 15.09.2003, 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,” he said in the notice.
He alleged that Kalanithi allotted himself 12 lakh equity shares that were transferred that day with the collusion of the others named in the notice and without consent from all shareholders, for a paltry sum of Rs 1.2 crore (Rs 10 per share) when the actual valuation of the shares should have been approximately Rs 3,500 crore.
“The entire process reflects a coordinated and premeditated effort by all of you to carry out an illegal and unauthorised transaction,” the notice said, adding that there was “criminal intent” to mislead not only his immediate family but also Dayalu Ammal.
Similarly, Dayanidhi alleged that three days after Murasoli Maran died on November 23, 2003, Kalanithi transferred all the shares in the names of Murasoli Maran to his mother Mallika with the intention of transferring them to himself at a later point.
He said this was done without obtaining the death certificate and legal heirship certificate, which according to him were mandatory requirements for transfer of shares. He said the legal heirship certificate, which listed Shanmugasundarathammal (Murasoli Maran’s mother), Mallika, Kalanithi, Dayanidhi, and Anbukarasi, was issued only in February 2004.
He further accused Kalanithi of deceiving the general public who invested by providing false information in the Red Herring Prospectus when Sun TV Limited went public. He alleged that there was huge discrepancy in the money paid for acquiring a portion of shares from Dayalu and the paltry sum paid by Kalanithi for acquiring shares from his mother Mallika.
He accused Kalanithi and his wife Kaveri of enriching themselves with huge salaries and bonuses since the take over of the company.
Noting that he had sent a legal notice to Kalanithi on this issue on October 7, 2024, Dayanidhi accused Kalanithi of issuing a “vague reply” to him while paying Rs 500 crore to Anbukarasi as part of a settlement and initial payment. TNIE attempted to contact Dayanidhi for a response on Thursday night in vain.