Supreme Court rejects Byju Raveendran’s plea on BCCI settlement

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by Byju Raveendran, promoter of Think and Learn Private Limited, challenging an NCLAT order that said the settlement of the BCCI’s claim must be placed before the Committee of Creditors (CoC). A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan refused to interfere with the April 17 order of the Chennai bench of the NCLAT and asked senior counsel Navin Pahwa, appearing for Raveendran, to move ahead under the existing process.

In its April 17 ruling, the NCLAT had said the CoC’s approval was necessary for the BCCI’s application seeking withdrawal of the insolvency proceedings against BYJU’S. The Supreme Court noted that it had already dismissed appeals filed by the BCCI and Riju Raveendran, the co-founder and younger brother of Byju Raveendran, against the same order in July.

Justice Pardiwala asked Pahwa why the tribunal’s view should be disturbed, pointing out that the Court had earlier held that since the CoC was formed during the case, any withdrawal or settlement must follow the legal process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. When Pahwa argued that the earlier petition was filed before the CoC was constituted, the bench disagreed, saying, “The moment we accept your argument, we frustrate the entire process.”

Pahwa told the Court that the BCCI dues had been paid from his client’s personal funds, but said the nature of the dispute had changed.

The insolvency case arose from payments owed to the BCCI, which began insolvency proceedings on July 16, 2024 over unpaid sponsorship dues. A settlement was reached on July 31, 2024, and the full claim was paid by Riju Raveendran. On August 2, 2024, the NCLAT allowed the withdrawal of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), but the Supreme Court later stayed that order on August 14, 2024 after objections from lenders.

In the present appeal, Byju Raveendran challenged the NCLT’s January 29, 2025 decision treating the settlement as post-CoC and directing that the withdrawal application be placed before the creditors’ committee — a decision the NCLAT upheld and the Supreme Court has now refused to overturn.

Early this week, A US bankruptcy court ordered Byju Raveendran to pay $1.07 billion for refusing to share financial documents in the ongoing BYJU'S Alpha case. BYJU’S Alpha is the Delaware entity that received the proceeds of a S1.2 billion term-loan for BYJU'S.

Judge Brendan Linehan Shannon issued a ruling on November 20 and held that Raveendran had shown a sustained pattern of non-cooperation that had already resulted in unpaid daily sanctions.

(With inputs from PTI)