NCLAT Chennai to pronounce verdict on Byju Raveendran appeal against insolvency proceedings on August 2

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Chennai is likely to pronounce its order on Friday, August 2, on the appeal filed by Byju Raveendran, founder of Byju’s, against an order initiating insolvency proceedings against the edtech firm..A coram of judicial member Rakesh Kumar Jain and technical member Jatindranath Swain also directed that the Company of Creditors (CoC) should not be constituted until Friday.The NCLAT’s order will have a direct impact on the ₹158 crore settlement that Raveendran and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have claimed to have reached for unpaid dues related to sponsorship of the Indian cricket team's jerseys..Raveendran filed the appeal before the Appellate Tribunal last month, challenging the insolvency proceedings triggered by the NCLT Bengaluru against Think and Learn, the parent company of Byju’s..On Thursday, Senior Advocates Punit Bali and Arun Kathpalia told the NCLAT that Raveendran's brother Riju, who is the largest shareholder of Byju’s, had filed an undertaking submitting details of the source of money from which BCCI was being repaid.They also told the Appellate Tribunal that Riju was paying such money from his personal account. They said that Riju had sold his shares, paid income tax on the same, and therefore, there was no question of any roundtripping, as alleged by the company’s financial creditors.“This is all tax paid money. It is my money, my personal shares, and money that I have infused back into the company. This money is also not part of the 533 million. So, at this stage, any third-party intervention is not warranted,” Bali said..Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for BCCI, said that the Board was entitled to such money and since it had been shown that the money being paid by Riju had been generated in India, there should not be any opposition to the settlement..Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Arvindh Pandian and Krishnendu Datta, who appeared for one of the financial creditors of Think and Learn, however, continued to oppose the settlement.They reiterated that the NCLAT must permit the CoC to be constituted and the Resolution Professional appointed by the NCLT Bengaluru must initiate proceedings as mandated under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code..The Appellate Tribunal directed all parties to conclude their respective arguments tomorrow so it can “dictate the order in the court itself.”.Senior Advocates Arun Kathpalia, Punit Bali and Dhyan Chinnappa, along with Advocates Rishabh Gupta, Zulfiqar Memon, Waseem Pangarkar and Nadiya Sarguroh of MZM Legal LLP appeared for Byju Raveendran.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta along-with advocates Adity Chaudhury, Bhavya Mohan (Partners) and Ann Pereira, Anjali Kutiyal (Associates) of Argus Partners appeared for BCCI.Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Arvindh Pandian and Krishnendu Datta and Advocates Prateek Kumar, Nikhilesh Rao, Thriyambak Kannan, Raveena Rai, Avinash Balakrishna, Tejas Shetty and Abhishek P appeared for the impleading applicant GLAS Trust Company LLC.A team from Chandhiok & Mahajan represented the IRP. The team included Managing Partner and Head of Restructuring and Insolvency practice, Pooja Mahajan; Partners Avinash Amarnath and Mahima Singh, and Associates Naman Golechha and Samridhi Shrimali.