BENGALURU: The Supreme Court on Thursday admitted the cases filed by the promoters of edtech firm Byju's in connection with the ongoing insolvency proceedings. The apex court has scheduled the next hearing on July 21.
Byju's lawyers challenged the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Chennai Bench decision that denied withdrawal of insolvency proceedings initiated by the BCCI.
Senior Counsel KK Venugopal said, “A Rs 158 crore settlement between Byju's and BCCI was fully agreed upon, paid, and formally communicated to the IRP (The resolution professional) well before the CoC (Committee of Creditors) was constituted.”
Senior Counsel Guru Krishna Kumar sought relief from the Supreme Court, “The Resolution Professional (IRP) handling Think & Learn's (Byju's) insolvency in India, has withdrawn legal proceedings in the US initiated by Think and Learn against the lenders. This is leading to substantial assets of the company in the US being disposed off."
Last month, the NCLAT had dismissed appeals filed by the BCCI and Byju Raveendran's brother Riju Raveendran, who is a board member of Byju's, seeking withdrawal of insolvency proceedings against the edtech firm and also to allow a settlement between the firm and the cricket board.
They had challenged the February 2025 order passed by the Bengaluru bench of the NCLT, which directed their settlement proposal to be submitted before the new CoC, which also includes US-based Glas Trust, the trustee representing lenders of Byju's.
The BCCI had filed a petition against the parent company of Byju's Think and Learn over unpaid dues amounting to Rs 158 crore in 2024. On July 16, 2024, the NCLT had admitted the firm into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process.
Once valued at $22 billion, the edtech firm has been facing many financial and legal challenges including lawsuits filed by term loan lenders.
Recently, in a podcast, Byju Raveendran had claimed, "Not a single dollar of that $1.2 billion loan, which we took in November 2021 to create growth in international markets and was supposed to be repaid in November 2026, has come into any of our personal accounts. It's all used for legit business.”