Byju Raveendran Challenges NCLT Order on Creditors' Inclusion in CoC

Byju's founder and CEO Byju Raveendran has challenged the National Company Law Tribunal's (NCLT) January order reinstating its creditors Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance onto the committee of creditors (CoC) of its parent company, according to The Economic Times. He also contested the NCLT's decision to discard the reconstituted panel formed by Byju’s former interim resolution professional (IRP) Pankaj Srivastava on August 31.

Raveendran filed the petition with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), describing the induction of the creditors and the reconstitution of the CoC as “fundamentally flawed.” Representing Raveendran, senior advocate S Guru Krishna Kumar argued that the tribunal, despite identifying lapses in Srivastava’s conduct, selectively accepted the CoC constituted on August 21 while ignoring subsequent developments.

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The CoC for Byju's parent company, Think & Learn, was initially formed on August 21 and included Aditya Birla Finance and Glas Trust, which represents Byju's US lenders. However, they were later removed when interim resolution professional Pankaj Srivastava reorganized the committee, asserting that it had been temporarily established earlier.

“Some kind of line is drawn by the adjudicating authority, as if to say that whatever he did on August 21 is accepted, but everything else is disregarded,” the senior lawyer told the NCLAT.

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The Background

In January, Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance had appealed to the NCLT to be reinstated in the CoC after being removed by Srivastava during the committee’s reconstitution. Srivastava defended his decision, stating that the CoC was provisionally formed under pressure from Glas Trust, and creditors were informed their claims were still under verification. He claimed Glas Trust had exerted pressure from the outset.

Glas Trust’s advocate Srinivasa Raghavan refuted this, arguing that the RP was aware of these cases before the initial CoC formation. Raghavan emphasized that once the CoC is constituted, the RP cannot alter it without NCLT’s approval. Aditya Birla’s representative Pramod Nair added that while the RP can revise the amount owed, they cannot unilaterally change a creditor’s financial status once determined.

On February 7, a two‑member bench comprising Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain and Jatindranath Swain directed the NCLT to uphold its earlier decision to reinstate Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance into Byju's CoC.