[Update] Karnataka HC Defers Hearing On Byju Raveendran’s Plea Challenging NCLT Bankruptcy Order

Update | July 26, 6:00 PM

In yet another setback to BYJU’S founder Byju Raveendran, the Karnataka High Court has deferred hearing on his plea challenging the National Company Law Tribunal’s order to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the embattled edtech firm.

This comes just a day after Raveendran moved the Karnataka High Court against the NCLT’s order to initiate corporate insolvency  resolution process against the company, alleging bias.

Original Story | July 25, 8:39 PM

In the latest development in the ongoing BYJU’S saga, its founder Byju Raveendran has moved a fresh writ petition in the Karnataka High Court (HC) against the National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT’s) order to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the edtech startup. 

In his petition, Raveendran has requested the HC to suspend the NCLT order until the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) takes up the company’s appeal against the former’s order.

“The NCLAT bench has adjourned my appeal to another date to decide on whether one of the judges will have to recuse from the plea. If the Committee of Creditors is formed meanwhile, I will be left remediless, it will become irreversible,” senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is representing Raveendran, argued before the HC, as per a Moneycontrol report.

Earlier this month, the Bengaluru bench of the NCLT admitted the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI’s) insolvency plea against BYJU’S and ordered to initiate the corporate insolvency resolution process against the company. In a separate order, the Tribunal asked the startup’s US-based lenders to stake their claims before the resolution professional appointed for BYJU’S. 

The NCLT’s order on initiating insolvency proceedings have triggered a series of events that threaten the very existence of the once-celebrated edtech unicorn.

This is the second attempt by Raveendran to seek a relief against the NCLT order. Earlier, the HC refused to admit BYJU’S plea against the Tribunal’s order.

Following this, the company moved the NCLAT. The BYJU’S founder is seeking to prevent the formation of a Committee of Creditors (CoC), which would effectively wrest control of the company from its current management.

The legal tussle between BYJU’S and the BCCI stems from a sponsorship deal gone wrong. 

BYJU’S has been fighting on multiple fronts for over a year now. It has been grappling with issues like rising losses, delays in filing financial statements, an acute funding crunch, layoffs, fighting with investors, multiple court cases and insolvency proceedings.

Earlier this month, Inc42 reported that the edtech giant has been locked out of more than 100 BYJU’S Tuition Centres (BTC) across the country over unpaid rent and utility bills. 

Meanwhile, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a sovereign wealth fund and investor in BYJU’S, has approached the Karnataka HC to compel Raveendran to disclose and block the transfer of his personal assets. QIA is seeking to claim up to $235.19 Mn of Raveendran’s personal assets.