Now, Aditya Birla Finance Accuses BYJU’S Resolution Professional Of ‘Fraud’

Already facing allegations of ‘secretly plotting’ against the US-based lenders of BYJU’S, the edtech firm’s interim resolution professional Pankaj Srivastava has yet again come under scanner — this time due to allegations from Aditya Birla Finance.

The financial services arm of the Aditya Birla Group has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against Srivastava, alleging that he committed fraud by wrongfully labelling the lender as an ‘operational creditor’ instead of a ‘financial creditor’, Mint reported.

For context, financial creditors are those entities or individuals from whom the debtor has obtained loan or debt security. On the other hand, operational creditors supply goods or services to a company for their business operations.

Appearing for Aditya Birla Finance, senior counsel Udaya Holla reportedly informed the tribunal that even as BYJU’S owes the company INR 139 Cr, Srivastava issued a notice in the meeting of committee of creditors fraudulently classifying them as operational creditors.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) documents accessed by Inc42 showed that Aditya Birla Finance filed claims worth INR 47.2 Cr, of which 30 Cr has been admitted by the resolution professional.

It is pertinent to mention that financial creditors have the first claim on the assets of a bankrupt company, followed by operational creditors.

The bench of Justices K Biswal and Manoj Kumar Dubey has listed the next hearing on Aditya Birla Finance’s plea against Srivastava on September 24. The resolution professional has been directed to file his objections in a week.

Earlier, Glas Trust — a consortium of US-based lenders that extended a $1.2 Bn term loan B to BYJU’S — also filed a petition before the NCLT against Srivastava, seeking the removal of the interim resolution professional.

Glas Trust claims BYJU’s has still not paid dues worth INR 11,432 Cr ($1.36 Bn).

While the US-based lender had also sought a stay on further meetings of the CoC amid the ongoing insolvency proceedings against BYJU’S, the tribunal refused to grant it interim relief, citing the August 21 Supreme Court order that allowed its constitution. 

The NCLT asked Glas Trust to file a fresh plea challenging its exclusion from the creditor’s committee if it wished to pursue the matter.

Notably, Srivastava earlier ousted Glas Trust from the creditors’ committee of BYJU’S, claiming it did not represent the minimum 51% of the lenders in the consortium.

Meanwhile, tax authorities have also filed claims for INR 848 Cr with BYJU’S resolution professional.