BCCI objects to Byju's bid to refer dispute to arbitration, NCLT to hear case on Feb 28

Arbitration is a mechanism to resolve disputes between parties without going to court

The Board of Control for Cricket to India (BCCI) on February 7 informed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that it would be objecting to the application filed by ed-tech giant Byju's, which seeks to refer the dispute between the two entities to arbitration.

Appearing for BCCI, senior counsel Nandakumar argued that they have filed their objections against Byju's application. He further told the court that an application to refer the dispute to arbitration is not maintainable in insolvency proceedings.

However, senior advocate Pramod Nair, who appeared for Byju's, urged the tribunal to hear both the parties at length and then pass an order. The NCLT thus deferred the hearing of the case to February 28.

Arbitration is a mechanism to resolve disputes between parties without going to court, wherein a neutral person (an arbitrator) is appointed to adjudicate the dispute, and the judgment is legally enforceable. For parties to resolve their dispute through arbitration, they must necessarily have an agreement expressing their intention to arbitrate.

Casefile

The case, which was filed by the BCCI on September 8, 2023, came up for a hearing only on November 28 last year. At the very first hearing, the NCLT issued notice to Byju’s and sought its response.

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 read.

Other insolvency pleas:

The NCLT has issued notice to Byju's in a total of three insolvency pleas till February 7. The first one is in response to the plea moved by the BCCI, and the other two related to the pleas moved by erstwhile vendors of the company.

On February 6, the NCLT issued a notice in an insolvency plea filed by a digital marketing firm called Surfer Technologies against ed-tech giant Byju's. Surfer argued that Byju's owes them Rs. 2.3 crore and all of them are admitted debts. According to Surfer, they were generating leads for Byju's and passing them on; these leads were overseen and then authorised by the ed-tech company.

On February 7, the NCLT issued notice to Byju's for the third time, in a plea filed by France-based Teleperfomance Business Services. According to Teleperformance, Byju's owes them over Rs. 4 crore.