Supreme Court Upholds Rejection of BCCI and Byju's Insolvency Appeals

The Supreme Court has upheld the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's decision to reject appeals by BCCI and Riju Raveendran for withdrawing insolvency proceedings against Byju's. BCCI and Byju's argued that their application was submitted before the formation of the Committee of Creditors but was dismissed by NCLAT.

The Supreme Court on Monday reinforced the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) decision, dismissing the appeals from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Byju's co-founder Riju Raveendran. Both parties were seeking to retract the insolvency proceedings initiated against the edtech giant.

A panel of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan made the ruling, upholding a prior judgment by the Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal. This decision directs that a settlement offer between BCCI and US-based trustee Glas Trust be brought before the new Committee of Creditors (CoC).

The appeals challenged an order to recognize Byju's debt to Glas Trust and the necessity for settlement approval by the CoC. Despite an earlier settlement between Byju's and BCCI, this NCLAT decision requires further legal steps. Byju's originally sought to annul insolvency via a Section 12A application, which necessitates CoC approval for withdrawals post-formation.