Sun Group Family Feud: A simmering rift in the Maran family, which controls the Sun Group, has now erupted into public view, according to people familiar with the matter. DMK lawmaker and former Union minister Dayanidhi Maran has issued a legal notice to his elder brother, Kalanithi Maran—Chairman and Managing Director of the Rs 24,000-crore Sun TV Network—accusing him of fraudulently taking control of the company through a contested share allotment in 2003. He has called for the restoration of the company’s shareholding structure to its pre-September 2003 status, a time when the Maran family and the family of the late M Karunanidhi held equal stakes.
Karunanidhi, the late chief minister of Tamil Nadu and former head of the DMK, passed away in 2011. His son, MK Stalin, is the current chief minister. If this dispute moves to court, it would pit Kalanithi not only against his brother Dayanidhi but also against the Karunanidhi family, with control of the media powerhouse hanging in the balance. Sun TV, the dominant Tamil-language broadcaster, wields considerable influence in Tamil Nadu and is widely seen as having benefited from its closeness to the ruling party.
Shareholding Increased to 60%
In the legal notice issued through his lawyer, K Suresh, Dayanidhi alleges that Kalanithi unilaterally allotted himself 1.2 million equity shares on September 15, 2003, without obtaining proper valuation, shareholder consent, or board approval. While the shares were issued at a face value of Rs 10 each, Dayanidhi contends they were worth approximately Rs 3,500 crore at the time, given that Sun TV was a cash-rich and profitable company.
The timing of this alleged transaction coincided with the death of their father, former Union minister Murasoli Maran. Dayanidhi argues that Kalanithi exploited this period of family grief to quietly raise his stake in Sun TV from zero to 60%, all without informing or consulting other key stakeholders—most notably MK Dayalu, the wife of M Karunanidhi and the Karunanidhi family’s representative. Notably, Murasoli Maran was Karunanidhi’s nephew.
According to the legal notice, Kalanithi’s shareholding surged to 60%, while the holdings of other legitimate shareholders were diluted to 20% each.
Money Matters
Dayanidhi further claims that this disputed allotment has since enabled Kalanithi to earn over Rs 5,926 crore in dividends up to 2023, and an additional Rs 455 crore in 2024 alone. He also alleges that Kalanithi and his wife, Kaveri, along with close associates, misused these “proceeds of crime” to acquire a string of high-value businesses and assets. These include Sun Direct TV, Kal Radios, Sun Pictures, South Asian FM, and the IPL cricket team Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The notice adds that more than Rs 8,500 crore worth of investments were made in domestic and overseas mutual funds and real estate investment trusts (REITs).
Dayanidhi has demanded that all shares, assets, and monetary benefits accrued since 2003 be returned to the original shareholders within seven days. If the demand is not met, he has stated his intent to initiate civil, criminal, and regulatory proceedings.
He also plans to escalate the matter to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), seeking the cancellation of Sun TV’s broadcast licences and the revocation of ownership rights to the Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL team.
Additional Allegations
Dayanidhi’s legal notice includes further allegations, such as the illegal transfer of shares from their late father to their mother—and eventually to Kalanithi—without the consent of the legal heir. He has also accused Kalanithi of manipulating IPO filings through misleading disclosures and alleges that company auditors and officials were complicit in facilitating the fraud.
The notice recalls that Kungumam Publications, founded in 1978, was incorporated with equal ownership by both families. Dayanidhi emphasizes that the founding vision for all the Maran group companies was to maintain 50:50 shareholding between the two families.
Kalanithi Maran launched Sun TV in Tamil in 1993 and expanded it into a vast media empire spanning multiple regional channels and a film production business. Industry observers point out that this growth was significantly aided by the company’s proximity to the political establishment in Tamil Nadu.