Riju Raveendran moves NCLAT against decision to reinstate 2 Byju's lenders

Riju, who is the brother of founder Byju Raveendran, has challenged a January 29 order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)

Riju Raveendran, the largest shareholder in the cash-strapped edtech firm Byju’s, has moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) challenging a decision to reinstate Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance as lenders of the edtech firm.

 

Riju, brother of founder Byju Raveendran, has challenged a January 29 order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

 

The NCLT had ordered disciplinary action against resolution professional (RP) Pankaj Srivastava and rejected his decision to exclude Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance from the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of the edtech firm.

 

The matter will be heard by the NCLAT on February 6.

 

 

Both Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance were part of the CoC last year in August but were later axed from the reconstituted committee. Aditya Birla Finance alleged that the RP had wrongfully classified it as an “operational creditor” instead of financial creditor or lender, while Glas Trust said it was wrongfully ousted from the CoC.

 

Financial creditors have a financial contract with the debtor, such as a loan, debt security, or guarantee. Operational creditors provide goods or services to the debtor, such as employees, suppliers, or government entities.

 

Meanwhile, the NCLT is yet to decide the application by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seeking to settle its dispute with Byju’s for the default of Rs 158 crore.

 

On Wednesday, the suspended director of the edtech firm told the NCLAT that the NCLT had only ruled on the application of the lenders but had not ruled on the application of BCCI.

 

The NCLT had in July last year started the insolvency proceedings after BCCI alleged that Byju’s had defaulted on Rs 158 crore. But the appellate tribunal halted the proceedings against the firm after it claimed that it had reached an agreement to pay Rs 158 crore to BCCI towards outstanding dues.

 

Later, Glas Trust moved the Supreme Court, alleging that the money was “illegal” and siphoned from them. In October last year, the apex court set aside the NCLAT order halting the insolvency proceedings against Byju’s.

 

The matter was then sent back to the NCLT.