Maran business empire under threat

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On a day when the Sensex soared over 348 points to close above the 19,000-mark, shares of Sun TV Network owned by the Maran family tumbled in a rising market on Thursday after reports emerged that textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran resigned had stepped down from his position.

Shares of Sun TV, which opened at Rs.330, fell 8.75% and closed at Rs 324.30. The scrip opened at the day’s high of Rs 331.25 and touched the day’s low of Rs 305.95. It had peaked to as high as Rs 556.50 sometime back.

The shares of budget airlines SpiceJet, which was acquired by Kalanithi Maran in 2010, plummeted over 6 per cent in intra-day trade to a low of Rs.30.10. However, at the end of trade, it showed a 0.15% gain to close at Rs 32.10. The 52-week high of the Spicejet scrip was at Rs 97.45.

The Sun empire seems under serious threat. Not only has Dayanidhi been forced to quit the protective comfort of the UPA Cabinet after the CBI went before the Supreme Court to allege his involvement in the 2G probe, the Sun CEO Hansraj Saxena has landed in jail after a film distributor lodged a complaint in a city police station alleging extortion and intimidation.

Police got one more complaint against Mr Saxena on Thursday and are said to be turning the heat on some of his associates. And some opposition politicians have started asking why Mr Kalanidhi has not been probed as well.

The Marans must be rattled by chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s assertion, made during her recent Delhi trip, that she would order probe into the allegation that Dayanidhi during his tenure as the communication minister had got fibre optical cables laid to connect the phone lines he procured from the BSNL in his official capacity to the Sun TV headquarters to download TV content. The CBI is also said to be investigating this episode.

“This is not the first time that Dayanidhi was forced to quit. He had to resign in 2007 when the DMK showed him the door at the height of the Marans’ feud with the Karunanidhi family. But then, the Sun group was much stronger at that time and they could patch up with the family. Things are not looking that easy for the Marans anymore. They seem cornered from many sides”, said a DMK senior.