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Informist, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Chennai bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal Tuesday said the committee of creditors of educational technology brand BYJU's parent company Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd. cannot become a party to the proceedings initiated for the removal of financial creditor GLAS Trust Co. LLC. from the panel. The trust may be keen to have the committee of creditors as its cheer group while it defends its case, but the law does not allow entry of a party into a matter unless its presence is necessary or at least proper for adjudicating an issue, the appellate tribunal said.

 

The distinction between the committee of creditors and the members who constitute it is defined clearly and preserved under the statutory scheme of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, the appellate tribunal said. Therefore, anything that affects or threatens the individual right of a member of the committee cannot be construed as a threat to all the members of the committee, it said.

 

When GLAS Trust's presence in the committee is challenged, what has to be tested is the nature of the contractual relationship Glas Trust has established with Think & Learn, and if it has given rise to a financial debt that the corporate debtor has defaulted in repaying, the appellate tribunal said. "How does it concern the other members of the CoC (committee of creditors) when their right to be in the CoC itself is dictated by their respective independent contracts with the corporate debtor?"

 

The appellate tribunal, in its order, finetuned the practice of allowing the committee of creditors to litigate in its name to avert the difficulties that this may pose. Where the committee comprises a single member, it does not matter whether the lenders' panel litigates a matter or the lone member constituting it litigates in its own name, the appellate tribunal said. 

 

Where a multi-member committee of creditors decides unanimously to litigate a matter together, it may institute such proceedings in its name, it further said. However, when a multi-member committee of creditors is intended to be arrayed as a respondent, it is necessary that every member of the panel is arrayed independently, since the one who approaches the tribunal with a grievance may not know whether the members of the committee intend to litigate separately or together, it said. 

 

In 2024, the Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal had admitted a petition by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to start insolvency proceedings against Think & Learn. Thereafter, Riju Ravindran, a suspended director of Think & Learn, filed an application before the Bengaluru tribunal seeking the removal of GLAS Trust from the committee of creditors of the debt-ridden company. The Bengaluru tribunal rejected the committee of creditors' plea to become a party to the matter. Following this, the committee of creditors had moved the appellate tribunal.

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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