Byju Raveendran has filed a plea in the Supreme Court requesting to be heard before the court decides on a plea likely to be filed by US lenders against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order setting aside insolvency proceedings against Byju's.
The plea was filed on August 3, a day after the NCLAT accepted the settlement between Raveendran and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The US based lenders of Byju's had objected to the settlement alleging that it was 'tainted' and Raveendran was using money 'stolen' from them to settle with BCCI.
The appellate tribunal noted that the settlement is being arrived before the Committee of Creditors (CoC) could have been constituted and considering that the source of the money (for settlement) is not in dispute, it did not have any reason to keep the company in insolvency process.
Pursuant to the NCLAT order, Raveendran regained control of the company. According to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016, the control of the company is taken away from the existing board if a company is admitted to insolvency resolution process.
Since Byju Raveendran cannot alienate any of his personal assets pursuant to a Karnataka High Court directive, his brother Riju Raveendran, who has agreed to pay Rs 158 crore to BCCI. Riju told the court that the money he is paying BCCI is from his personal funds that were generated from the sale of Think and Learn's shares between 2015 and 2022. Subsequently, Riju also filed an undertaking disclosing the source of the funds, after the objections raised by the US lenders.
On July 16, the NCLT admitted Byju's parent Think and Learn to insolvency resolution process in a plea filed by BCCI.
The tribunal has appointed Pankaj Srivastava as the interim resolution professional, in charge of running the company till the lenders form a committee known as the Committee of Creditors.
"The Interim Resolution Professional shall after collation of all the claims received against Think and Learn Pvt Ltd the Corporate Debtor and the
determination of the financial position of the Corporate Debtor constitutes a Committee of Creditors," the order said.
The NCLT also dismissed Byju's request to refer the dispute to arbitration.
According to the order from November 2023, the BCCI claimed that Byju’s had defaulted on a payment of Rs 158 crore. “It is stated that the general notice was issued to Byju’s vide email dated 06.01.2023 and the default amount of Rs 158 crore, excluding TDS as reflected,” the NCLT order from November read.
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