Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath, co-founders of the troubled edtech firm Byju’s, are taking their fight to the courts—both in India and abroad. On July 18, they announced legal proceedings against lenders, including Glas Trust, seeking damages of at least ₹20,000 crore. According to them, the lenders' actions have severely harmed their personal reputations and the business of Think & Learn, Byju’s parent company.
In a statement issued by Paris-based law firm Lazareff Le Bars Eurl, which is representing the founders, senior litigation advisor J Michael McNutt said they plan to sue in Indian courts and in "multiple foreign jurisdictions." The lawsuits target what the founders describe as “reprehensible and improper” behaviour during the ongoing insolvency proceedings.
McNutt stated that the founders “reserve the right to use all legal means to obtain justice,” and that no court anywhere has ordered them personally to pay any amounts to Think & Learn or its related companies.
The legal tussle isn’t one-sided. Glas Trust, which arranged ₹10,000 crore worth of loans for Byju’s US-based subsidiary Alpha Inc., had earlier sued Raveendran, Gokulnath and former chief strategy officer Anita Kishore in a Delaware bankruptcy court. Their claim? That the trio siphoned off nearly ₹4,400 crore from the borrowed funds. The founders strongly deny these accusations.
The US court, on July 7, held Raveendran in civil contempt for not producing certain documents. He is now seeking a reconsideration, arguing the issue overlaps with matters already pending before Indian tribunals.
With cases running in parallel on both sides of the globe, the founders are also contesting Glas Trust’s creditor status at India’s National Company Law Tribunal. They are disputing the very basis of the corporate insolvency proceedings initiated against Think & Learn.
On a separate front, Indian insolvency professionals have raised claims of alleged fraudulent transactions, invoking provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The situation has spiralled from a business disagreement to a cross-border courtroom drama. Byju’s, once pegged at a valuation of ₹1.8 lakh crore, is now locked in bankruptcy cases in both the US and India.
