BCCI in settlement talks with Byju Raveendran over outstanding payments
Bengaluru: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Tuesday that it is engaged in preliminary settlement discussions with Byju Raveendran to resolve a dispute with Think and Learn Private Limited, a Moneycontrol report said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for BCCI said "The matter may be heard tomorrow, they are in talks." The NCLAT accordingly adjourned the case to July 31, according to the report.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the company's US-based lenders, informed the NCLAT that their plea was dismissed following the insolvency order and that he is seeking to appeal the decision.
The tribunal agreed to hear all related applications on July 31.
On July 29, Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma of the NCLAT recused himself from hearing the plea of Byju's founder, Byju Raveendran, who is challenging the order that admitted the edtech startup's parent company, Think and Learn, to bankruptcy based on a plea by the BCCI.
"I have appeared as a senior counsel for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), since they are the main beneficiaries of this order, I cannot take this up," said Sharma, the judicial member of the NCLAT, the report said.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Think and Learn Private Limited on July 16, following a plea by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) concerning an unpaid amount of Rs 158 crore.
Subsequently, on July 26, the Karnataka High Court deferred to July 30 the hearing of Byju Raveendran's plea to suspend the order admitting Think and Learn Private Limited into insolvency.
According to the report, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Raveendran, said, "The NCLAT bench has adjourned my appeal to another date to decide on whether one of the judges will have to recuse from the plea. If the Committee of Creditors is formed meanwhile, I will be left remediless, it will become irreversible."
Singhvi argued that if the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) were to adjourn the plea again on July 29 due to a member's recusal, the company risked the Committee of Creditors (CoC) taking control without having the opportunity to argue its appeal.
He likened the situation to "giving a pound of flesh to Shylock." Singhvi requested a stay on the formation of the CoC until the NCLAT decided on Byju's plea.
Byju Raveendran has filed two petitions in the Karnataka High Court: one challenging the validity of the order and another seeking the suspension of the order until the NCLAT hears the appeal.
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