CHENNAI: Former Union minister Dayanidhi Maran has accused his elder brother and media baron Kalanithi Maran of acquiring 12 lakh shares of Sun TV Private Limited in 2003 for just Rs 1.2 crore, despite their actual value being around Rs 3,500 crore at the time. In a legal notice, Dayanidhi alleged that Kalanithi did so without proper valuation, consent from other shareholders, or any fair consideration — thereby unlawfully becoming the majority shareholder overnight. According to the notice, till September 15, 2003, Kalanithi did not hold a single share in the company. However, during the critical illness of their uncle Murasoli Maran in September that year, Kalanithi allegedly allotted the shares to himself at a face value of Rs 10 each, diluting the original promoters’ holdings. Dayanidhi claims this act was fraudulent and a breach of fiduciary duty. The notice states that shares were transmitted from group companies just three days after Murasoli Maran’s death on November 23, 2003 — even before his death certificate was issued. “There could not have been any legitimate death certificate or legal heirship certificate available to any party on November 26, 2003,” the notice said, calling the transfer void and fraudulent. Dayanidhi has accused Kalanithi of using this control to divert company funds, including purchasing shares from their aunt Dayalu Ammal for Rs 100 crore using Sun TV’s own funds. He alleges that the company’s first-ever dividend was declared fraudulently in 2005 to finance this deal. If Dayalu had retained her shares, she would have earned the same amount through dividends, the notice states. He has also questioned a 2005 transaction in which 1,14,999 shares were transferred from Mallika Maran to Kalanithi at Rs 10 per share, despite Kalanithi having bought shares from Dayalu just weeks earlier at Rs 3,173.04 apiece. The notice further points to an earlier legal notice issued by Dayanidhi on October 7, 2024, which allegedly led to a Rs 500 crore payment to their sister Anbukkarasi, another legal heir of Murasoli Maran. He described the payment as an attempt to suppress the truth and prevent her from exposing “illegal acts”. Calling for restoration of the shareholding to its original structure as on September 15, 2003, Dayanidhi warned that he would approach the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), SEBI, Enforcement Directorate and other authorities if corrective steps were not taken within a week. He also threatened to seek cancellation of Sun TV’s media licences, the Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL franchise, and SpiceJet’s aviation licence. The legal notice has been sent to eight individuals, including Kalanithi Maran, his wife Kavery Kalanithi — who is accused of drawing an annual salary of Rs 87.5 crore — and several financial advisors allegedly involved in the transactions.