NCLT directs BCCI to submit application to settle with Byju's to CoC

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday directed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to submit its application to settle its dispute with Byju's and withdraw its insolvency plea against Think & Learn Private Limited to the company's Committee of Creditors (CoC) [BCCI v. Think & Learn Private Limited].A coram of Judicial Member K Biswal and Technical Member Ravichandran Ramaswamy said, "The application is disposed of with the direction to submit withdrawal application before CoC."As a consequence of this decision, the CoC will now decide on the application for withdrawal of insolvency. .During the hearing, Senior Advocate Srinivasa Raghavan told the tribunal that the Resolution Professional (RP) was not conducting himself properly. According to Raghavan, the RP, Pankaj Srivastava, had not called for the meeting of the newly constituted CoC. It was alleged that the RP has been postponing the meeting despite the NCLT asking him to conduct it.Senior Advocate Promod Nair, who appeared for Aditya Birla Finance, urged the NCLT to adjudicate on this issue.The NCLT directed the parties to file an appropriate application bringing these facts on record..The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had earlier directed the NCLT to decide within a week the application filed by the BCCI to withdraw the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) plea against Byju's.This was part of the NCLAT's order disposing of an appeal filed by Riju Raveendran, a suspended director of Byju's, challenging the NCLT's reinstatement of Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance into the Byju's CoC..In his appeal, Raveendran contended that the NCLT could not have reconstituted the CoC during the pendency of the application for withdrawal of CIRP on account of a settlement proposed with the BCCI. Raveendran argued that a full settlement had been reached with the BCCI before the CoC was even formed, making the withdrawal application the most pressing matter. According to Riju Raveendran, the NCLT’s decision to reconstitute the CoC effectively dismisses the withdrawal application without a formal ruling.The appeal also highlighted that the Supreme Court granted BCCI and Riju Raveendran the liberty to pursue appropriate remedies following the settlement. According to Raveendran, the NCLT's move to prioritise the CoC formation over the withdrawal application directly contradicted the Supreme Court's mandate. His plea contends that the tribunal should have first addressed the withdrawal application, as its outcome would determine the necessity of the CoC reconstitution..On July 16 last year, the NCLT Bengaluru admitted an insolvency plea filed by the BCCI against Think and Learn Private Limited, which is the parent company of ed-tech firm Byju's.The order was passed on an insolvency plea filed by the BCCI over unpaid dues related to sponsorship rights worth ₹158 crore.