After EGM to oust founder, Byju's claims that resolutions are invalid and ineffective

The EGM that went on for about four hours concluded after voting on proposed resolutions even as it initially faced a number of disruptions.

Ahead of the results of a vote to oust Byju's founder and CEO Byju Raveendran in an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), the edtech company claimed in a statement to media that the resolutions taken by shareholders are invalid and ineffective.

"BYJU'S firmly declares that the resolutions passed during the recently concluded Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) — attended by a small cohort of select shareholders — are invalid and ineffective. The passing of the unenforceable resolutions challenges the rule of law at worst," the company said.

A host of blue chip investors like Prosus, General Atlantic and Peak XV have mounted a campaign to fire Byju Raveendran as the chief executive officer of his namesake edtech company, Byju’s, which once towered over Indian unicorns with a $22 billion valuation.

In an EGM, which Raveendran, his wife and brother — the only board members — decided to skip, the investors voted on resolutions to overhaul the embattled education platform's leadership, reconstitute the board and start a forensic probe into alleged governance breaches.

However, the results of the voting are still awaited.

The EGM that went on for about four hours concluded after voting on proposed resolutions even as it initially faced a number of disruptions, as unknown people tried to allegedly sabotage the meeting.

"These resolutions were voted upon without the valid constitution of a quorum, as stipulated in BYJU'S Articles of Association (AoA). According to Articles 38 and 39(a) of the AoA, at least one founder-director is required to form a valid quorum. As the founders did not participate in the meeting, the quorum was never legitimately established, rendering the resolutions null and void," said the company, in the statement.

A Karnataka High Court order, earlier, barred enforcing any of the decisions taken in the EGM till the next date of hearing, which is March 13. The order came earlier this week on a petition filed by the company against its investors.

Late on February 22, Raveendran wrote a letter to shareholders, saying his and promoters' absence would invalidate the EGM proceedings.