NCLT orders TLPL's RP to halt further disposal of auctioned assets

Bengaluru Bench directs TLPL's resolution professional and auction buyer Comprint to maintain status quo on disputed assets until the next hearing on September 21

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Bengaluru Bench, has directed the Resolution Professional (RP) of Think and Learn Private Limited (TLPL) and auction buyer Comprint Tech Solutions (I) Private Limited to maintain status quo over the articles, equipment and assets auctioned under the notice dated 2 August 2026. TLPL is the parent company of edtech firm Byju's, which is undergoing a corporate insolvency resolution process. The order, passed on 31 August 2026, requires the disputed assets to be preserved in their existing state until the next hearing on 21 September 2026.

 

The direction came on an application by the RP of Byju's K3 Education Private Limited, supported by counsel for the suspended directors. The applicant questioned the ownership and disposal of the assets and submitted that articles worth approximately Rs 150 crore had been auctioned for approximately Rs 16 crore.

 

 

The Bench, comprising Judicial Member Sunil Kumar Aggarwal and Technical Member Radhakrishna Sreepada, observed: “Even if part of the auctioned articles actually belonged to TLPL, the ownership of rest of the articles remains in haze.” It held that preserving the auctioned articles was necessary until concrete evidence emerged, warning that an altered ground situation could not be undone.

 

The Tribunal also brought Comprint, the successful bidder in the auction held on 14 August 2026, into the proceedings as a respondent. It directed the buyer to file a detailed inventory of the purchased assets, the complete address where they are stored and photographs within one week of being served with the application notice and the order. A copy must be provided to the applicant's counsel.

 

Separately, TLPL's RP has been directed to comply with the Tribunal's earlier order dated 20 August 2026 within one week and provide the relevant details and data to the applicant's counsel. During the hearing, the applicant complained that the earlier direction had not been complied with. Counsel for TLPL's RP said more time was needed to collate the data and retrieve the relevant documents.

 

The applicant argued that further dissipation of assets in which Byju's K3 claimed a substantial stake could leave it without the assets needed to continue its corporate insolvency resolution process.

 

Counsel for the suspended directors questioned the urgency of the auction and submitted that TLPL's insolvency resolution process was intended to revive the company, while objecting to the sale of assets at what counsel described as a meagre value.

 

The order also records a clarification by counsel for TLPL's RP that, as of the earlier hearing on 20 August, only some of the auctioned articles had changed hands and delivery of the remainder was continuing. The Tribunal modified its earlier order to reflect this. At the 31 August hearing, counsel stated that all auctioned articles had by then been delivered to the successful bidder.

 

The T&L Resolution Professional maintains that the goods were T&L’s, that the sale was approved by its Committee of Creditors, and that Byju’s K3 has established no title. The Tribunal has decided none of these questions; it has directed that the goods be preserved until it does.

 

The proceedings followed a Karnataka High Court order dated 28 August 2026, which allowed the applicant to approach the NCLT for protection of the properties in question. The NCLT's interim direction preserves the specified auctioned assets pending further consideration. It does not finally decide their ownership or set aside the completed auction. The matter will next be heard on 21 September 2026.