Justice Katju’s Allegations Against DMK and the Karunanidhi Family
- Background: Political Remarks by CM M.K. Stalin
- Justice Katju’s 2014 Queries on Family Wealth
- DMK’s Response and Legal Threats to Katju
- Claims of Overseas Assets and Political Influence
Justice Markandey Katju accuses the Karunanidhi family of large-scale corruption, calling DMK the “most corrupt family in India” in his new article.
The most corrupt family in India
By Justice Markandey Katju
On page 8 of the newspaper 'The Hindu' of 8th November, there appeared a news item of a speech given by MK Stalin, the present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, who reportedly said, " Today someone is dreaming of destroying or dismantling the DMK. Their dreams will definitely not come true. No one can even touch this movement ".
Today, on 9th November, another news item appeared. Stalin has spoken again ( see pages 1 and 6 of 'The Hindu' ). This time, he has said, " Some people were trying to intimidate the party. There is only one sun, one moon, and one DMK ".
I am a retired Supreme Court Judge and former Chief Justice of Madras High Court. I have no desire, nor am I in a position, to destroy, dismantle, or intimidate the DMK. But I am certainly in a position to touch it, and that is what I intend to do by this article.
In my opinion, the family of former CM M. Karunanidhi is the most corrupt India has seen, before whom even the American mafia crime families would pale into insignificance.
The patriarch of the family, Karunanidhi, came almost penniless from a village in the district Nagapatnam to Chennai. He joined the DMK, and during the course of his political caree,r he and his family became billionaires ( in dollars, not rupees )
In 2014, I asked him to disclose his assets when he joined politics, and the assets of him and his family in 2014
TN people should question Karunanidhi's Family Property : Controversial Statement by Markandey Katju
Instead of doing so, he launched a vicious personal counterattack on me. That reminded me of the Hindi saying " Khisiyani billi khamba noche "
I was threatened of legal action by the DMK, which also demanded my removal as Chairman of the Press Council of India
In September 2025, a stampede occurred in Karur in Tamil Nadu, in which 41 people were killed, and over 100 were injured. I wrote an article about this, in which I said that corruption is at its peak in Tamil Nadu today, and nothing moves without corruption. I quoted Shakespeare's Hamlet, " Something is rotten in the state of Denmark ", and said that similarly, it can be said that something is rotten in the state of Tamil Nadu."
I am in Tamil Nadu presently, and spoke to many local people. They all said it was the DMK that caused the stampede, organized by an MLA from Karur. They said that the very fact that within half an hour of the incident, 4 Ministers reached Karur, as did Stalin within an hour, proves they knew what was going to happen, and therefore were complicit.
The Karunanidhi extended family is believed to own assets worth billions of dollars in the USA, UK, Swiss banks, Dubai, etc.
They allegedly own Holiday Inn Express Hotels ( 60 branches) in England
Sun TV office is in Kingston, London
Stalin's son Udainidhi, the Dy CM and heir apparent, who is now calling the shots in Tamil Nadu, has a palatial house in East Coast Road. It is believed that a huge amount of money is coming into this Tamil Nadu Royal Family's coffers by corruption from the liquor and real estate sectors.
Allegations of huge corruption of Rs 30,000 crore per year by Stalin's family was made in a leaked audio by PTR, who was the Finance Minister in Stalin's Cabinet. Though PTR later called the video fake, to my mind, he denied it's authenticity only for fear of dire consequences. But the fact that PTR was later divested of the Finance portfolio, and the fact that Savukku Shankar, the journalist who revealed the video showing huge corruption, was arrested and jailed on fabricated charges, goes to indicate that the video was authentic
I appeal to the people of Tamil Nadu to kick out these vampires and vultures from power in the coming state assembly elections due in April/May 2025. The ADMK and Vijay's TVK must forge an alliance for this.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
