Sun TV reacts to ‘family dispute’ reports: ‘Matter dates back to 22 years when…’ | Company Business News-OxBig News Network

Sun TV Network Limited rejected reports about a dispute between former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his older brother Kalanithi Maran, Chairman and Managing Director of Sun TV.

The statement by the Company Secretary & Compliance Officer said the claims made in recent articles “are incorrect, misleading, speculating, defamatory and not supported by facts or law.”

The statement said the alleged matter dates back to “22 years when the Company was a closely held private limited Company.”

“We wish to inform that all acts have been done in accordance with legal obligations and the same had been duly vetted by concerned intermediaries before the public issue of the Company,” the statement added.

It further stated, “The matters alleged in the articles does not have any bearing on the business of the Company or its day-to-day funtioning and being the family matter of the Promoter are purely personal in nature.”

What’s the controversy?

In what was called a high-stakes family dispute, Dayanidhi Maran reportedly issued a legal notice to his elder brother, Kalanithi Maran, accusing him of violating regulations and unlawfully transferring lakhs of shares of the Chennai-based Sun TV Group to himself.

The legal notice was addressed to Kalanithi Maran, Kaveri Kalanithi, Ravi Ramamoorthy, Natarajan Sivasubramanian (chartered accountant), Sridhar Swaminathan (financial consultant), Swaminathan, and Sharad Kumar.

According to reports, Dayanidhi alleged that Kalanithi received ₹5,926 crore in dividends up to 2023 and an additional ₹455 crore in 2024. He reportedly alleged that “the offences committed by you are continuous in nature and continue as on date.”

Meanwhile, Sun TV Network Ltd, the company at the center of the dispute, reported a turnover of ₹4,544 crore and a net profit of ₹1,654.45 crore for the financial year 2024–25.

Sun TV fell 4 percent after media reports that Dayanidhi Maran sent a legal notice to Kalanithi Maran, his brother and chairman of Sun TV, alleging irregularities tied to Kalanithi’s ownership in the company, Reuters reported.