BYJU’S Insolvency: NCLAT Chennai Judge Recuses Himself From Hearing Riju Raveendran’s Appeal

National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Chennai judicial member Justice (retd) Sharad Kumar Sharma has recused himself from hearing an appeal by Riju Raveendran against an order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that reinstated BYJU’S lenders Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance into the debt-ridden edtech company’s committee of creditors.

Justice Sharma said he has appeared for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as a lawyer in several cases and, therefore, cannot take up the matter, Bar and Bench reported.

It must be noted that NCLT initiated insolvency proceedings against BYJU’S last year after the BCCI complained about the failure to recover $19 Mn in dues.

“I was not only conducting cases for BCCI, I was also closely associated with the board and players,” Justice Sharma said.

The matter will now likely be placed before NCLAT chairperson Justice (retd) Ashok Bhushan for hearing the case

It must be noted that Justice Sharma had recused from hearing an appeal by founder Byju Raveendran against the insolvency proceedings ordered against Think & Learn Private Limited, which runs BYJU’S, in July last year.

On January 29, the NCLT ordered the removal of BYJU’S resolution professional Pankaj Srivastava while reinstating its lenders Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance as financial creditors, dealing another blow to the embattled edtech firm.

It further called for the constitution of a new CoC, which will comprise Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance.

However, the Tribunal did not rule on the application filed by the BCCI seeking to settle its dispute with BYJU’S. Consequently, Riju and Srivastava moved the NCLAT against the NCLT order. 

Besides its financial woes in India, BYJU’S is also embroiled in several legal conflicts in the US. In January, a top company executive and an ally of Byju Raveedran were held in contempt of a US court for failing to answer questions about their roles in seizing assets, cash and software from BYJU’S subsidiaries — Epic! and Tangible Play. 

Last year, a Nebraska-based businessman accused BYJU’S founder of trying to regain control of Epic! using hidden loan money that he allegedly hid from investors.

BYJU’S is not the only Indian edtech company plagued with headwinds. Except for IPO-bound Physics Wallah, most of the startups operating in the space are struggling with mounting losses and finding product market fit. 

While chatter grew louder last year about the potential acquisition of Unacademy, the likes of FrontRow, Bluelearn and Stoa among others, have been forced to either shut down operations or scale back amid a severe funding crunch.