BENGALURU: Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Chennai bench on Monday rescued himself from hearing an appeal by edtech firm Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran seeking an interim stay on the insolvency proceedings.
The NCLAT Chennai has refused to hear the case, as the bench member has been counsel for BCCI in the past. The Chairperson is now requested to form a bench to hear the matter.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) filed a petition against Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Byju’s over unpaid dues amounting to Rs 158 crore. On July 16, the NCLT admitted the edtech firm into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, but the edtech firm approached the NCLAT Chennai against the insolvency proceedings.
Byju Raveendran has moved the Karnataka High Court seeking a stay on the insolvency proceedings, but the HC deferred the hearing on July 30. According to reports, Justice Sharma said that he went through the entire case papers and realised that the beneficiary is going to be BCCI, and so he doesn’t want to get involved with this.
It is said Raveendran’s lawyers will now write to the NCLAT Registry seeking listing of the matter before another bench. Byju Raveendran has lost control of the company as the firm has been admitted into the insolvency process.