Tamil Nadu: A family feud out in public

An ugly battle brewing for some time inside one of Tamil Nadu’s most prominent political-cum-business families is now out in the open. The key players in this family drama are Dayanidhi Maran, DMK MP and former minister for communications and textiles in the union government during the UPA government, and his elder brother Kalanidhi Maran, media mogul and owner of the hugely successful Sun TV group. The two are sons of the late Murasoli Maran, nephew of former DMK patriarch and TN chief minister M. Karunanidhi.

At the heart of the high stakes battle is the ownership of Sun TV, whose value is estimated at over Rs 11,420 crore (USD 1.4 billion), currently controlled by Kalanidhi.

The Sun group, of which Sun TV is the flagship, comprises a conglomeration of television channels, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, direct to home (DTH) and cable, film production and even an Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket team, the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The group’s TV channels span all four southern languages, as well as Marathi and Bengali. At one time, it even owned a sizeable stake in Spicejet, before divesting in 2015.

Kalanidhi launched his television channels in the early 1990s, when state-owned Doordarshan had a monopoly over the market. Back from the US a few years back with an MBA degree, he realised the potential for a private channel. Kalanidhi’s vision proved immensely successful; his channels became hugely popular and Sun TV went public in 2006, making him a billionaire overnight. Heprefers to keep a low profile and stays out of the limelight. In fact, his daughter Kavya, who is often seen during telecast of IPL matches, has a more public persona.

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With the group’s immense success came the inevitable strain over who had what. There were reports of simmering differences between Kalanidhi and Dayanidhi, but they were smoothed over by their uncle, Murasoli Selvam, Murasoli Maran’s brother and the benign intervention of the late Karunanidhi.

But on 10 June, Dayanidhi levelled a series of allegations against Kalanidhi in a lawsuit, accusing him of serious fraud and dishonesty in acquiring controlling interest in Sun TV.

Central to the charges are accusations that on 15 September 2003, when Murasoli Maran lay dying in Chennai — he was on life support and passed away in November that year — Kalanidhi fraudulently transferred 1.2 million shares of Sun TV Private Ltd to himself at the nominal face value of Rs 10 per share, when they were actually worth between Rs 2,500-3,000. This transaction effectively left Kalanidhi with 60 per cent of the company, which had been set up as a 50:50 partnership between the Maran and Karunanidhi families.

Dayanidhi is seeking to have the company’s ownership revert to the pre-15 September 2003 position, with return of all dividends, assets and income derived thereafter and probes by SEBI (the exchange regulator), the SFIO (which investigates serious fraud cases) and the ED. He has also alleged money laundering on his brother’s part through the funding of other ventures, including the purchase of the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

If the lawsuit is successful, the shares would revert to Dayalu Ammal (Karunanidhi’s wife) and her children — chief minister M.K. Stalin as well as his brothers Alagiri and Tamilarasu and sister Selvi — and to Dayanidhi and his sister Anbukkarasi, the heirs of Murasoli Maran, the original promoters of Sumangali Cable Television (SCV), the precursor of the Sun TV group with a 50:50 stake.

Notably, Kalanidhi was not one of the original shareholders of SCV.

There has been no official reaction from Stalin or the DMK. TheIndian Express has reported on Stalin’s attempt at mediation, but while Kalanidhi and Anbukkarasi were willing, Dayanidhi reportedly refused to budge.

Observers suggest that Stalin’s hands-off attitude to the quarrel in public reflects the fact that he does not share a close relationship with the Maran brothers, unlike their fathers’ bond.

In fact, in the past, there have been other scraps between the Marans and the Karunanidhi family. In 2007, Dinakaran, the Sun group’s Tamil newspaper, had reported that public opinion indicated that Stalin was more popular than his elder brother Alagiri and would be the likely successor to Karunanidhi. This angered the Madurai-based Alagiri, whose supporters attacked the daily’s office, resulting in the death of three employees. The incident prompted Karunanidhi to launch his own Kalaignar TV, to dilute the dominance of Sun TV.

Sun TV (read: Kalanidhi) has meanwhile dismissed all charges, saying the issue relates to events when the group was privately held and the legal particulars were certainly vetted at the time. Sun TV has maintained that the MP’s lawsuit is baseless and a case of personal animosity.

Until now, Kalanidhi has run Sun TV as a one-man show, with little involvement from Dayanidhi.

Political observers see the quarrel as purely a shareholder dispute, unlikely to spill over into politics.

Still, Stalin is no doubt watching the developments closely and is likely to play conciliator in private — while continuing to appear neutral in public, to try and balance family loyalties and public perception.

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