The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday directed the resolution professional (RP) of Think & Learn to submit the Indian cricket board’s withdrawal application before the edtech firm’s committee of creditors (CoC).
On November 18, Byju’s RP had requested the NCLT to consider the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) application to withdraw its petition.
The move by the BCCI follows a Supreme Court of India ruling on October 23, which quashed a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order that allowed the settlement of a Rs 158-crore payment between BCCI and Byju’s.
However, Glas Trust, which represents a group of US entities that lent $1.2 billion to Byju’s, had questioned the maintainability of the withdrawal application.
Since the application was filed before the tribunal post the formation of the CoC, Glas Trust had argued that the withdrawal application should be presented to the CoC first, and it should be brought before the tribunal only if the committee clears it with 90% vote.
Glas Trust had also cited procedural lapses for seeking rejection of the application as the BCCI had filed the application with the RP before the CoC stage and not the tribunal.
However the RP’s counsel had said that the BCCI initially filed the application before the CoC was formed and hence voting was not required.
Prior to this, the NCLT had inducted Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance onto the CoC, by setting aside the reconstitution of the panel carried out by the company’s IRP on August 31.
The CoC now constitutes Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance, Incred Financial Services and ICICI Bank as financial creditors.
On Friday, the appellate tribunal directed the NCLT to pass an order in the case after Byju’s suspended director Riju Ravindran filed a petition over the delay in the NCLT pronouncing its order. The NCLT had reserved its order on the BCCI’s application on January 8.
