Byju's legal battles: US court ruling, new RP and whistleblower claims

The US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Friday determined that Byju’s suspended director Riju Ravindran, founder Byju Raveendran, hedge fund Camshaft Capital Fund, and the parent company Think & Learn are responsible for defrauding its US entity, Byju’s Alpha Inc, and its lenders.

This development was announced by the lenders of Byju's $1.2 billion term loan. They stated that the court confirmed that several fund transfers from Alpha were fraudulent and amounted to theft. It also ruled that Riju Ravindran had breached his duties as a director of Byju’s Alpha.

The judge said the edtech firm and founders hid the whereabouts of the Alpha Funds. They also failed to provide financial statements or basic information requested by the lenders.


In India, Glas Trust, which represents the US lenders, is taking legal action against the edtech company in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Byju Raveendran’s accusation

Raveendran has asked the authorities to carry out a “thorough investigation” into alleged collusion and fraud involving Glas Trust, consultancy firm EY, and former resolution professional (RP) Pankaj Srivastava.

This follows a viral LinkedIn post by an EY India whistleblower, claiming the audit firm collaborated with Glas Trust and was hired by Srivastava to advise on the insolvency proceedings. The whistleblower shared documents claiming EY was hired by Srivastava for "support services to the IRP" but did not reveal it was working with Glas Trust.

However, EY refuted the allegation.

“Me and several employees received a document with conclusive evidence of criminal collusion between EY India, which I otherwise held in high regard, Glas Trust, which claims to represent the lenders it does not represent, and the IRP (resolution professional Srivastava) who was appointed by an Indian court to protect Byju’s but ended up destroying it,” Raveendran wrote in a LinkedIn post. “I am sure a thorough investigation of this evidence will reveal the truth. I request the authorities to take that up immediately.”

Appointment of new resolution professional

Byju's accusations come at a time NCLT approved the appointment of Shailendra Ajmera, another EY employee, as the new RP on Monday. This was however opposed by Raveendran's counsel.

The tribunal had instructed Think & Learn's committee of creditors (CoC) to provide its recommendation for a new RP after the NCLT found issues with the actions of the previous RP Pankaj Srivastava, and called for disciplinary proceedings against him.

On January 29, the NCLT added Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance back to the CoC, reversing the changes made by Srivastava on August 31. Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance had originally been part of the CoC for Think & Learn formed on August 21 but were removed when Srivastava restructured the committee.