Supreme Court On Wednesday, the NCLAT stayed its order quashing the order to initiate insolvency proceedings against financially troubled education-technology company Byju’s. The case pertains to default in payment of Rs 158.9 crore related to Byju’s sponsorship deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Think and Learn, the parent company operating Byju’s, got a big relief from the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLT) decision on August 2. In it, the company’s founder Byju Ravindran was brought back in control. But the Supreme Court termed the NCLAT decision as prima facie ‘unreasonable’ and stayed its implementation.
What did the court say?
Along with this, the court has issued notice to Byju and others on the appeal of Byju’s US-based lender Glass Trust Company LLC. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra said, “We are staying the decision (of NCLAT). It is unreasonable.” The apex court directed the BCCI to keep the amount of Rs 158 crore received after the agreement with Byju in a separate escrow account till further orders. NCLAT had cancelled the bankruptcy proceedings against Byju, approving the outstanding settlement of Rs 158.9 crore with BCCI. Byju had signed a team sponsorship agreement with BCCI in 2019. He had completed his liabilities by mid-2022, but later defaulted on the payment of Rs 158.9 crore.
After the insolvency proceedings began, Byju’s entered into an agreement with BCCI. On this basis, NCLAT took Byju’s out of the corporate insolvency resolution process and brought the promoters back under the control of the board of directors. Earlier, on July 16, the Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had ordered the initiation of insolvency proceedings against Byju’s parent company ‘Think and Learn’. Byju’s, one of the country’s leading education-technology companies, has been in a deep financial crisis in the last two years and due to this, it is facing payment disputes other than its lenders.
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