The Karnataka High Court on July 30 disposed Byju Raveendran's plea to suspend the order that admitted Think and Learn Private Limited (TLPL), which operates Byju’s, into the insolvency resolution process after noting that the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has begun hearing the case.
The HC said, "Having regard to undisputed fact that appeal is filed before NCLAT and it has been taken up for consideration today and kept for hearing tomorrow. Petition is disposed off with liberty to revive the petition if occasion arises."
The order was passed after lawyers for Raveendran and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) agreed on getting the case disposed.
Earlier today, BCCI told the NCLAT that it was in settlement talks with Byju Raveendran over the Rs 158-crore dispute.
During the hearing of this plea, Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Raveendran, said: "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."
It is Singhvi's contention that if the NCLAT adjourned the plea again on Monday on the recusal of a member, the company faces the threat of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) taking over it without having argued its appeal. He said, "This is like giving a pound of flesh to Shylock."
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, who appeared for BCCI, opposed the plea. "He is deliberately misleading the court," Mehta said, contending that the CoC was unlikely to be formed by July 31. Raveendran's plea was filed on mere speculation and no concrete orders, he said.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the US-based lenders of the embattled edtech firm, said Raveendran's plea should only be heard by NCLAT and not the high court since it was not contemplated in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.
On July 16, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted Byju’s parent Think and Learn to the insolvency resolution process on BCCI's plea over non-payment of Rs 158 crore.
While the edtech company’s logo was emblazoned on the Indian men cricket team’s jersey, it failed to pay sponsorship dues of about Rs 158 crore to the BCCI.
The order means that founder Byju Raveendran has lost immediate control of the company, with the NCLT appointed bankruptcy professional overseeing the firm's day-to-day operations as the proceedings continue.
The tribunal named Pankaj Srivastava as the interim resolution professional (IRP) to run the company.
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