A United States bankruptcy court has issued a sweeping default judgment against Byju Raveendran, directing the edtech founder to repay more than ₹9,500 crore (over US $1 billion) following a petition by his company Byju's Alpha and US-based lender GLAS Trust Company LLC.
The ruling from the Delaware Bankruptcy Court comes after the court found Raveendran to be personally liable for the alleged diversion, movement and concealment of funds tied to Byju's Alpha’s financing arrangements.
The court noted that Raveendran repeatedly failed to comply with discovery orders, ignored prior directives and continued to evade document requests. Despite earlier contempt orders and financial penalties, he neither produced the required information nor paid the sanctions already imposed.
Finding the conduct to be a “strategic pattern of wilful failure to comply with discovery”, the court imposed sanctions of roughly $10,000 daily until he clears the contempt.
The repayment includes a default judgment of $533 million (which at ₹89.65/USD equates to roughly ₹4,780 crore) and a further amount of $540.647 million ( which converts to about ₹4,850 crore.) Together, this places the total liability in excess of ₹9,600 crore, making it one of the largest personal judgments ever faced by an Indian startup founder in a foreign jurisdiction.
The court also rejected Raveendran’s argument that GLAS Trust already had access to relevant documents via the books of BYJU’S Alpha — stating that there was no evidence in the record to support that claim.
The dispute stems from a contentious US-dollar term-loan financing by Byju's Alpha in 2021, which later became the subject of accusations around hidden transfers, covenant breaches and financial irregularities. The matter snow-balled into global litigation, with lenders seeking court intervention both in the US and in India.
The latest ruling greatly intensifies the pressure on Raveendran — at a time when Byju's remains mired in liquidity issues, mounting legal challenges and a thinning market presence.