Dayanidhi Maran sues elder brother and Sun TV CMD Kalanithi Maran

Says brother seized Group control 'fraudulently'

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN

A simmering rift in the Maran family that owns the Chennai-based Sun Group is out in the open, said people with knowledge of the matter.

Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) lawmaker and former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran has sent a legal notice to his older brother Kalanithi Maran, who is Chairman and Managing Director of the INR240-billion Sun TV Network, accusing him of fraudulently seizing control of the company through a disputed share allotment in 2003.

He has demanded restoration of the company's shareholding structure to its pre-September 2003 status, when the Maran family and that of the late Muthuvel Karunanidhi owned equal shares in the company. Karunanidhi, who died in 2011, was head of the DMK and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. His son Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin is the State's current Chief Minister.

If the dispute goes to court, it will pit Kalanithi against his brother and the Karunanidhi family, with control of the media giant at stake. As the dominant channel in Tamil Nadu, Sun TV is highly influential and regarded as having benefited from its proximity to the ruling party.