BCCI Wants Its Insolvency Plea Withdrawn Against BYJU’S

Weeks after the Supreme Court overturned NCLAT’s settlement order, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has now sought an urgent hearing at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to withdraw its insolvency petition against troubled edtech startup BYJU’S.

The cricketing body reapproached the tribunal today (November 12) to get its prior insolvency petition dismissed against the company, according to a report by LiveMint. 

The report said that the BCCI has requested prioritisation of the withdrawal process so that pleas for the removal of the current resolution professional (RP) by BYJU’S investors Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance (ABF) are irrelevant. 

The NCLT is scheduled to hear the case on November 18.

Notably, BYJU’S troubles at the courts began earlier in July when the Bengaluru bench of the Tribunal admitted BCCI’s insolvency plea against BYJU’S over the latter not paying its dues of over INR 158 Cr. The bankruptcy admission came over six months after the cricket board filed the petition against the embattled edtech major at the NCLT.

Following the admission of BCCI’s plea, the NCLT dismissed a separate insolvency plea filed by the company’s US-based Term Loan B (TLB) Glas Trust. 

However, BCCI and BYJU’S arrived at a settlement of INR 158 Cr in August at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). The settlement temporarily lifted the bankruptcy threat over BYJU’S.

However, the startup’s disgruntled US-based lenders approached the apex court to retrieve their dues of over $1.3 Bn. Observing the disparity in the claims that BCCI and Glas Trust claimed from the company, the SC rejected the NCLAT’s verdicts of setting aside the bankruptcy proceedings. Further, it also ordered the BCCI to deposit the settlement amount to the committee of creditors.