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Informist, Thursday, Aug 22, 2024

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court today refused to stay meetings of the committee of creditors of debt-ridden Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, parent of online educational services company BYJU'S. The top court said it would first hear the case on merits and listed the matter on Tuesday.

 

Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Think and Learn, said the committee of creditors was set up on Wednesday with 98% involving the company's US lender GLAS Trust Co LLC. "This CoC (committee of creditors) was set up without asking, and an email was sent to the resolution professional for this purpose," Singhvi told the court. "This isn't fair. The CoC could have been constituted tomorrow with your permission. This whole thing is done to make my argument irreversible."

 

Singhvi said there was a procedural issue under Section 12A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, which mandates that insolvency pleas can only be withdrawn if 90% of creditors approve the decision after the committee is formed. The US lender representing 98% of lenders was pushing the process ahead without adequate consent from other stakeholders, he said.

 

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for Think and Learn’s operational creditor, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which had invoked the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, asked for the meeting of the committee to be deferred or stayed. "How can this 98?cide anything?" said Mehta, adding that it would amount to allowing the appeal by the US lender to reject the BCCI's settlement with Think and Learn. The court responded that if the appeal by the US lender is ultimately dismissed, the committee’s decisions would also be invalidated.

 

On Aug 20, the top court refused to stop the formation of the committee of creditors of Think and Learn. On Aug 14, it stayed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's order approving a settlement between Think & Learn and the cricket board, and issued notices to Think & Learn, co-founder Byju Raveendran, and the board on a petition from GLAS Trust Co LLC opposing the settlement.

 

On Aug 2, the appellate tribunal had set aside an order passed by the Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal in July to start insolvency proceedings against Think & Learn. The appellate tribunal passed the order after it was informed that the parties had arrived at a settlement. However, GLAS Trust Co LLC contested the payment by the debt-ridden company.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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