'Byju's in good health' lawyers tell NCLT, BCCI's plea to be heard on January 17

Byju's has told NCLT that they have preliminary objections to BCCI's plea, and has been granted time to file its response.

Lawyers representing embattled edtech firm Byju's at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) assured on December 22 that the company was in good health and it is functioning quite well.

On being asked by the NCLT how the company was doing during the hearing of Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) insolvency plea against Byju's, one of the company's lawyers told the tribunal that there was a lot of negative media surrounding the company making it appear that the company is not doing well.

Deeming the case a 'high profile', The NCLT said that it should be heard at the earliest possible date, thus adjourning the hearing of the case to January 17. Byju's has told NCLT that they have preliminary objections to BCCI's plea, and has been granted time to file its response.

Casefile:

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

According to the last order, BCCI claimed that Byju’s had defaulted payment of Rs 158 crore, as indicated by information. “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 order of NCLT read.

Byju's previously had three significant branding partnerships with the BCCI, ICC (International Cricket Council), and FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), all of which were up for renewal in 2023. However, the company confirmed earlier in the year that it would not renew any of them. It remains undisclosed whether the filed suit is related to this matter or another issue.

This development also follows fresh troubles for Byju's as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) confirmed sending a show cause notice to edtech company Think and Learn Private Limited and Byju Raveendran in the FEMA violation case.

Moreover, the company is also under fire for delaying full and final settlements of laid-off employees yet again. The Bengaluru-based company had earlier shifted the date of payment from September to November.