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Sasikala's Conviction Sends Sun TV, Raj TV Shares Zooming

VK Sasikala was found guilty in a disproportionate assets case She faces a jail term of four years She is now barred from contesting an election for the next ten years

AIADMK leader VK Sasikala was found guilty in a disproportionate assets case by the Supreme Court.
AIADMK leader VK Sasikala was found guilty in a disproportionate assets case by the Supreme Court.

Sun TV and Raj TV shares soared today after AIADMK leader VK Sasikala was found guilty in a disproportionate assets case by the Supreme Court. She faces a jail term of four years and is now barred from contesting an election for the next ten years, ending her bid to be Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Shares of Sun TV - which is owned 75 per cent by Kalanithi Maran - rose as much as 4 per cent to Rs 741 after the Supreme Court verdict came in. Mr Maran is the grandnephew of DMK leader M Karunanidhi.

Sun TV shares have seen a big rally this month after a court in Delhi had earlier discharged former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran and others in the Aircel-Maxis deal cases lodged by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). In 2014, the CBI filed charges against the Marans and T Ananda Krishana, a Malaysian tycoon, for colluding to allow Maxis take control of Aircel, a Chennai-based company owned at the time by C Sivasankaran.

Rival Raj Television Network's shares surged as much as 12 per cent today with prices rising to Rs 72.75 on the BSE. Raj Television is promoted by M Ravindran (who holds a 10.72 per cent stake), Raghunathan M (11.3 per cent), M Raajhendhran (11.3 per cent) and Rajarathnam M (11.3 per cent), among others.

Raj TV saw huge volumes as 1.3 lakh shares changed hands on BSE compared with an average of 19,000 shares traded daily in the past two weeks.

Sun TV shares also came in high demand as 6.58 lakh shares changed hands against its two week average of 5.34 lakh shares.

Sun TV shares ended 2.6 per cent higher at Rs 733 while Raj TV ended 5.3 per cent higher at Rs 68.45.