Byju's Insolvency: Aditya Birla Finance, GLAS Trust Move NCLT To Replace Resolution Professional

SN Thyagarajan (Bar and Bench) 04 November 2024

Economy & Nation

Aditya Birla Finance and GLAS Trust Company on Monday filed applications before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Bengaluru to replace the Resolution Professional (RP) of Byju's parent company Think and Learn.

A coram of Judicial Member K Biswal and Technical Member Manoj Kumar Dubey agreed to list the pleas in the coming week.

The plea was mentioned for urgent hearing on Monday. Senior Advocate Uday Holla, who appeared for GLAS Trust, told the NCLT that the RP had classified just one creditor as a financial creditor, as a result of which the Committee of Creditors (CoC) comprises just one creditor with 100% voting rights.

The CoC is a group of financial creditors who call the shots of a company once it is admitted to the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). Operational creditors do not get a vote in CoC meetings.

Sources close to the development told Bar & Bench that the creditor who initially had 0.2% voting rights in the CoC now has 100% voting rights due to the RP's disqualification of GLAS Trust and Aditya Birla Finance.

Holla further told the NCLT that Glas Trust had moved a plea in the Karnataka High Court on October 25 and obtained a stay on the conduct of the CoC meetings. He asked NCLT to list the case for hearing this week.

Senior Advocate Promod Nair, who appeared for Aditya Birla Finance, said, "They have classified us as operational creditors; we are financial creditors."

Nair also pointed out that the Karnataka High Court has asked the NCLT to hear and decide these applications in two weeks.

Advocates Ahaan Mohan and Aiyshwarya Mahadev from law firm AMM & Associates assisted Nair for Aditya Birla Finance.

Advocate Tejas Shetty from Khaitan & Co appeared for Glas Trust.

Senior Advocate Dhyan Chinnappa appeared for the suspended management of Think and Learn, and sought for a copy of the applications.

The Supreme Court on October 23 allowed the appeal filed by US-based financial creditor Glas Trust challenging the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) decision to halt insolvency proceedings initiated against Think & Learn, the parent company of Byju’s.

The judgment set aside the NCLAT order which accepted the settlement between Byju Raveendran and the Board of Control For Cricket in India (BCCI), on whose plea the NCLT Bengaluru in July admitted Byju's to the the insolvency process.

The matter has now been remitted back to NCLT to decide the next course of action in the insolvency case.

Courtesy: Bar & Bench

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