Coaching giant Aakash Education Services on Tuesday told the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that it needs to urgently raise funds in order to survive and sustain its business (Singapore Topco v. Aakash Educational Services Ltd & Ors).The company, therefore, urged the Tribunal to vacate the stay operating in favour of Singapore Topco.Senior Advocates CK Nandakumar and Srinath Sridevan, who appeared for Aakash, said, “These are physical classes. We have 5,000 teaching and non-teaching staff and 3.5 lakh students. We need to raise funds.”Sridevan told the Tribunal that the company will be put in a precarious position in February if the stay is not vacated. He further said that only Manipal Systems, which is its largest shareholder, can help them infuse funds, but the stay order is preventing them from doing so. .Aakash Institute faced legal challenges over an attempted amendment to its Articles of Association (AoA). Blackstone-backed Singapore Topco, a shareholder in Aakash, opposed the amendment, fearing it would significantly dilute its 6.8% stake. This stemmed from a merger agreement with Byju's, through which Topco acquired its shares.Byju's lenders, Glas Trust, also raised concerns, arguing that the amendment was a move by former Byju's management to dilute the company's valuable stake in Aakash. Glas Trust emphasised that Aakash is a crucial asset for Byju's. Aakash defended the amendment, stating it was necessary to secure funding for the company..The NCLT initially restrained Aakash from implementing the amendment. However, the Karnataka High Court subsequently stayed the NCLT order, allowing Aakash to proceed. The Supreme Court then intervened, directing Aakash to halt the implementation and approach the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) for resolution. Singapore Topco challenged the High Court's authority to intervene in the matter.The NCLAT refused to modify the stay order and directed Manipal Systems and Aakash to file an application for vacation of stay in the NCLT instead..Senior Advocate Dhyan Chinnappa, who appeared for Manipal Systems, contended that the Singapore Topco obtained its shares via the merger framework agreement and in its absence, the company cannot halt the move to change the AoA. Senior Advocate Niranjan Reddy, who appeared for Singapore Topco, told the Tribunal that the arguments presented are one-sided and requested that the case be adjourned to January 21 to present his side. A coram of Judicial Member K Biswal and Technical Member Ravichandran Ramaswamy accordingly adjourned the case to January 21.
