It took DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin’s active intervention, including seeking the help of Dravidar Kazhagam president K Veeramani and The Hindu daily’s N Ram, for the feud between the Maran brothers to be settled.
The dispute between the Maran brothers came to a head in early June when Dayanidhi issued a legal notice to elder brother Kalanithi, accusing him of fraudulent share allotments, corporate misgovernance, and unilateral decisions in the early 2000s when SUN TV Network was a private company.
Sources said that while Dayanidhi had sought Rs 1,500 crore to settle, Kalanidhi was willing to offer only Rs 500 crore.
Stalin, who has earlier too brokered peace in the Maran family, tried first on his own to get the two brothers to reach a settlement. After that failed, he turned to Veeramani and N Ram, both of whom have ties to the family. Sources said that three rounds of talks were held subsequently, including two in person and one via video conference, before a deal was reached.
As per the notice sent by Dayanidhi, in 2003, while their father Murasoli Maran was in a coma, Kalanithi allotted himself 12 lakh equity shares at a nominal Rs 10 per share, consolidating over 60% stake in SUN TV. This, it alleged, reduced the stakes of the Maran family and M Karunanidhi families from 50% each to 20% each. Dayanidhi’s notice also listed possible violations under the corporate law, the previous Indian Penal Code, and Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
In a formal response to the allegations, in a filing to the stock exchange, SUN TV stated on June 20 that all these transactions had been legally vetted prior to the company’s public listing. It called the allegations “incorrect, misleading, speculative, defamatory and not supported by facts or law”, and said the dispute with Dayanidhi was “purely personal in nature” and had no bearing on its operations.
Nevertheless, SUN TV took a beating in the markets, with its share prices dropping over 5% in intra-day trading, before recovering partially to close nearly 1% down. Over the following days, its stock experienced an overall decline of about 8% from recent highs – rattling investor confidence.
A top source in the DMK first family confirmed that Stalin was visibly displeased over how the matter had unfolded publicly – especially so close to the Assembly elections next year – and, hence, stepped in to defuse the situation.
Stalin’s decision to turn to Veeramani, who will turn 92 this December, was prompted by his stature as an elder statesman of Tamil Nadu politics and respected figure in the Dravidian movement. Plus, unlike Stalin’s family, Veeramani had no financial interests in SUN TV.
N Ram, a senior journalist and former editor of The Hindu, also had a role to play as a relative of the Maran family. Ram has always been close to the DMK ideologically, while his stature in the media world lent credibility and balance to the mediation.
“First, Veeramani phoned the Maran family. After that the others also joined, and three rounds of talks were held between the last week of June and the first week of July,” a source said. “Both parties were asked to refrain from speaking to the media and were urged to settle and move on.”
The talks emphasised the cost to the reputation of the DMK and Maran family due to the dispute, as well as the protracted nature and high legal costs of continued litigation.
The late Murasoli Maran was the nephew of Karunanidhi, making him a cousin of Stalin. He was responsible for the DMK gaining a voice – and space – in the Delhi power corridors, and served as a Cabinet Minister in multiple Central governments.
As long as Murasoli was around as the family patriarch, Kalanithi and Dayanidhi heeded to his wishes and peace was kept. This was helped by the fact that the brothers chose different career paths – Kalanithi carving out an empire in regional television by founding SUN TV in 1993, which initially broadcast from Singapore, and Dayanidhi entering politics and leveraging his father’s legacy to become the Union Minister for Telecom in the 2000s.
The first rupture in the family was seen in 2007, when the Maran family newspaper Dinakaran published a poll favouring Stalin as Karunanidhi’s political heir and placing Dayanidhi over Stalin’s elder brother M Alagiri. The supporters of Alagiri reacted violently, including with an attack on the paper’s office.
Since then, tensions never settled down in the family. However, the financial angle being added to the list of grouses between the brothers made the current episode among the worst.
“This whole thing could have gone the other way,” said one senior source. “But Stalin, Veeramani, and Ram made it clear: let this end now, before it weakens everyone.”
While N Ram said “I have no comment” when reached on the matter, Kalanidhi, Dayanidhi and Veeramani couldn’t be contacted.
Kalanithi Maran (left) with his brother Dayanidhi Maran. (Express Archives) 
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