Ministry of Home Affairs not to reply to Sun TV chief Kalanithi Maran

The Home Ministry will not reply to chairman of Sun TV Kalanithi Maran who had asked Home Minister Rajnath Singh to intervene on the issue of refusal of security clearance to his 33 channels as it has already clarified the reasons for the rejection.

Official sources said the Ministry has no plans to reply the letter written by Maran where he had said his company was never involved in any anti-national or criminal activity and there was no justification for refusal of the clearance to his television channels.

"If the Sun TV moves the court, we will tell the court. But as of now, we have no plans to write them back as we have already clarified the reasons for the denial of security clearance," a source said.

Home Ministry officials were also suspecting that the Sun Network may try to cite the relief the company got from the Madras High Court after the Centre withdrew the Multi System Operator licence for Kal Cables owned by the Maran families.

However, the union government yesterday filed an appeal in the Madras High Court challenging relief to Multi System Operator, Kal Cables by a single judge of the court.

With his 33 TV channels staring at closure, Kalanithi Maran wrote a letter to Rajnath Singh asking him to intervene on the issue of refusal of security clearance.

In the letter, Maran said he has come to know that the security clearance to his channels was refused on the ground of ongoing proceedings in the case involving Sun Direct TV Private Ltd pending before CBI and ED, which he termed as "untenable" and that his company has been singled out.

"There are several TV and FM Radio companies, including some controlled by very large business conglomerates, which among them have pending cases involving 2G spectrum, corporate espionage at the Ministry of Petroleum, corruption involving disproportionate assets and extortions.

Security clearances for these media companies have not been revoked," he said.

The letter came after the Home Ministry rejected an I&B Ministry's proposal for giving security clearance to 33 television channels of Maran-promoted Sun TV Network, a move that could lead to cancellation of their broadcasting licence.

Maran said most of the TV companies have criminal cases pending against them or against their directors or promoters or their group companies but only his company has been singled out and security clearance refused.

The Maran brothers are facing a CBI probe over alleged allotment of 300 high-speed BSNL telephone lines to the residence of former Communications and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran in Chennai which were extended to his brother Kalanithi's channel.

There are two other pending criminal probes against Sun TV Network and its owner Kalanithi Maran - CBI's Aircel-Maxis case and an Enforcement Directorate case of alleged money laundering.

The Sun TV Network is one of India's largest media groups whose TV channels reach more than 95 million households in India.