Bankruptcy court accepts BCCI's ₹158-crore case against Byju's, takes control away from owner 

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s insolvency petition against ed-tech start-up and former shirt sponsor Byju's for defaulting on dues worth ₹158 crore on Tuesday. July 16. As a result, owner Byju Raveendran lost immediate operational control of his company.

Byju's and BCCI began a sponsorship agreement in 2019, giving the start-up rights to display its trademark on the kit of the Indian men's and women's cricket teams. However, it failed to pay the sponsorship dues after June 2022, prompting the cricket board to file the case in September last year.

NCLD's Bengaluru bench led by Justices K. Biswal and Manoj Kumar Dubey began the insolvency proceedings. It also appointed Pankaj Srivastava as the bankruptcy professional to oversee Byju’s operations as the petition is heard.

“There is no reason to deny the petition… since the existence of a debt and a default in the payment of debt is clearly established," the bench said, as quoted by Mint.

Srivastava's duties will involve making a list of Byju's dues to all stakeholders and creating a committee of creditors that might eventually take control of Byju's.

Byju's has failed to reach a settlement

According to the NCLT, Byju's never denied the dues but failed to pay BCCI back, instead requesting the board to extend the time of the payment.

Byju's has also reportedly tried to reach a settlement with the BCCI but to no avail yet.

"As we have always maintained, we wish to reach an amicable settlement with BCCI and we are confident that, despite this order, a settlement can be reached. In the meantime, our lawyers are reviewing the order and will take necessary steps to protect the Company’s interests," a spokesperson for Byju's said, as quoted by The Hindu.

This was the latest in a series of massive blows to Raveendran after seeing his company with a valuation of $22 billion in 2022 being celebrated as one of the biggest ed-tech start-up stories in the world to be worth less than $1 billion.