In a major relief to Byju’s, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on Friday approved the declaration made Wednesday by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, informing NCLAT that it had arrived at a settlement over the payment of Rs 158.90 crore in dues that the embattled edtech firm owed the BCCI.
The appellate tribunal also dismissed allegations of round-tripping levelled by Byju’s US-based lenders, saying they failed to provide any evidence for the same.
The tribunal further declared that the money was paid by Riju Raveendran (brother of Byju Raveendran) through sales of his shares. It bears noting that NCLAT had been told Wednesday that Riju Raveendran had paid BCCI Rs 50 crore on Tuesday. The appellate tribunal had also been told that an additional Rs 25 crore would be paid by Friday (August 2) and the remaining amount by August 9.
According to PTI, NCLAT, however, passed its order with a caveat that any failure to make payments on the specific dates mentioned in the undertaking would automatically lead to a revival of the insolvency proceedings against Byju’s.
“In view of the undertaking given and affidavit, the settlement between the parties (is) approved and as a result appeal succeeds and impugned order (passed by the NCLT) is set aside,” said a two-member Chennai bench in its order in the open court.
Case highlights
Mar 2019: Byju’s signs jersey sponsorship agreement with BCCI for three years
Jun 2022: Company renews contract
Nov 2022: Byju’s seeks to terminate the contract due to fund crunch
Sep 2023: BCCI initiates insolvency proceedings against Byju’s for defaulting on Rs 158.9 crore dues
July 16: NCLT admits Byju’s into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) based on petition filed by BCCI
