It is not all sunshine at SUN TV Network after its shares slumped by a little over 5.25 per cent to fall as low as ₹580 apiece in morning trade on the National Stock Exchange after news that DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran had sent a legal notice to his elder brother, Kalanithi Maran, made national headlines.

Kalanidhi Maran is the billionaire chairman and managing director of the Chennai-headquartered media giant SUN TV Network. His younger brother and DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran is now accusing the media tycoon of seizing control of the media group following the death of their father Murasoli Maran in 2003. 

The legal notice, dated June 10, alleged that Kalanidhi Maran, his wife Kavery Maran, and six others had schemed and carried out a hostile takeover of the BSE and NSE-listed media company. The Maran family is the major promoter of SUN TV Network. Stating that the “alleged matter dates back to 22 years when the Company was a closely held private limited company”, SUN TV Network responded through a regulatory filing that “statements allegedly made in the articles are incorrect, misleading, speculating, defamatory and not supported by facts or law.”

“In order to take over the entire company and its assets for the personal benefit of [Kavery and Kalanidhi Maran], [Kalanidhi Maran] orchestrated a deceptive and devious plan in active conspiracy with [the rest of seven accused],” read the legal notice.

The eight named in the legal notice were Kalanidhi Maran and his wife Kavery, along with Ravi Ramamoorthy, Natarajan, Sivasubramanian (Chartered Accountant), Sridhar Swaminathan (Financial Consultant), Swaminathan, and Sharad Kumar.

Dayanidhi Maran alleges fraud under PMLA

“As part of executing your premeditated fraudulent scheme, taking advantage of the family’s situation, especially when my client’s father’s health was critically ill, that he could pass away at any moment and the entire family was concerned about his deteriorating health, [Kavery and Kalanidhi Maran] commenced your first illegal activity in September 2003,” read the notice by Dayanidhi Maran’s attorney.

Alleging that the shares of SUN TV Network were fraudulently allotted to his brother and entities at a “throwaway price”, the DMK MP accused them of “possessing proceeds of crime as defined under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act”.

“All of you have wilfully enriched yourselves through the aforementioned fraudulent and deceitful acts in one way or the other, and are knowingly in possession of the resulting proceeds of crime. By unlawfully retaining and utilising these benefits, each of you is guilty of possessing proceeds of crime as defined under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and have further attempted to camouflage these tainted assets as legitimate, thereby committing serious offences punishable under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Let it be made clear that such deliberate acts of criminal concealment shall not go unpunished and will invite strict penal consequences,” the legal notice from Dayanidhi Maran stated further.

Who is Kalanithi Maran, the billionaire brother of DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran?

Kalanidhi Maran is the son of erstwhile media baron in Tamil Nadu, Murasoli Maran, and the elder brother of DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran. He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Sun TV Network.

Reports estimate his current net worth at a little shy of ₹30,300 crore, with a significant portion of it attributed to his holdings in the Sun TV media empire, which includes television, radio, and film production, as well as ownership of sports franchises.

The media scion was born on July 24, 1965. He completed his MBA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after earning his undergraduate degree in Engineering from the MIT College of Engineering in Chennai. He is married to Kavery Maran, and they have a daughter, Kavya Maran, who is the head of the IPL team, Sunrisers Hyderabad and South Africa’s SA20 team, Sunrisers Eastern Cape.