New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed petitions filed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Riju Raveendran challenging an April 2025 ruling of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Chennai, which had refused to allow BCCI to withdraw its insolvency application against Byju’s parent company without prior approval of the Committee of Creditors (CoC).
A bench comprising justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan declined to interfere with the NCLAT’s order, effectively upholding the requirement that BCCI must seek CoC approval to withdraw the proceedings.
Senior advocate and former attorney general KK Venugopal, appearing for Riju Raveendran, objected to the dismissal, saying, “I am sorry but the matter is being dismissed arbitrarily. I am in the middle of my arguments. How can your lordships dismiss the case without even hearing me?”
The bench, however, remained silent and proceeded to dismiss the plea.
The BCCI had initiated insolvency proceedings against Byju’s before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in July 2024, citing unpaid dues of Rs 158.90 crore.
Following a settlement, BCCI sought to withdraw the application by submitting Form FA to the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) in August 2024.
However, since the Committee of Creditors was constituted shortly thereafter on August 21, 2024, and the formal withdrawal application was filed only in November 2024, both NCLT and NCLAT ruled that approval from 90% of CoC members under Section 12A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was mandatory.
The NCLAT clarified that under Regulation 30A, the “date of filing” refers to the submission date before the NCLT and not merely to the IRP.
Riju Raveendran, who had filed a separate plea alleging he was not heard on his impleadment application, also faced dismissal.
The NCLAT had noted that Raveendran was present during hearings and had already raised all relevant arguments.
BCCI was represented by solicitor general Tushar Mehta and senior advocate CK Nandakumar, along with a team from Argus Partners including advocates R Sudhinder, Aditya Chaudhary, Bhavya Mohan, Aastha Trivedi, Anjali Kutiyal, Anushka Sharma, Bhuvan Kapoor, and Karthik.
Glas Trust was represented by senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Krishnendu Datta with advocates Prateek Kumar, Raveena Rai, Moha Paranjpe, and Siddhant Grover from Khaitan & Co.
The Resolution Professional was represented by senior advocate Paramjit Patwalia, while Byju Raveendran was represented by senior advocates Guru Krishnakumar and Haripriya Padmanabhan.
Other respondents were represented by advocates Pooja Mahajan, Arveena Sharma, Ichchha Kalash, and Samridhi Sharmili from Chandiok & Mahajan.
