The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has directed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to issue a decision within a week on the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) request to withdraw the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against Byju’s.
With this order, the NCLAT has also disposed of an appeal challenging the reinstatement of Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance into Byju’s Committee of Creditors (CoC). The appellate tribunal made it clear that while it is expediting the matter, it has not commented on the factual aspects of the case.
The issue dates back to January 29, when the NCLT initiated disciplinary action against Byju’s resolution professional and overturned his decision to exclude Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance from the CoC. It also removed him from the role and ordered that the newly reconstituted CoC select a replacement. However, the tribunal has yet to rule on the BCCI’s application to settle its financial dispute with Byju’s and withdraw the insolvency plea.
Riju Raveendran, who had filed an appeal against the inclusion of Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance in the CoC, argued that the NCLT should have prioritized the withdrawal request, given that a full settlement had already been reached with BCCI before the CoC’s formation. He contended that reconstituting the CoC while the withdrawal request was pending effectively sidelined the settlement without a formal ruling.
Raveendran also pointed out that the Supreme Court had permitted both BCCI and himself to seek remedies following the settlement. He argued that the NCLT’s decision to prioritize CoC formation over the withdrawal application contradicted the Supreme Court’s directive.
The insolvency proceedings were initially triggered when the NCLT admitted a plea by BCCI against Byju’s parent company, Think & Learn Private Limited, over unpaid sponsorship dues amounting to ₹158 crore.
As the NCLT now faces a one-week deadline, all eyes are on whether it will approve the settlement and allow Byju’s to resolve its financial troubles outside the insolvency process.
