According to the bench, it cannot stop the Committee of Creditors (CoC) proceedings as the Supreme Court has allowed its constitution on August 21.
“Because the Supreme Court has already given the go-ahead for the formation and constitution of the CoC as well as for conducting the meeting, we cannot just stop it,” the bench said while adding that the lenders can file a separate application for pursuing this.
The matter involves Glas Trust’s removal from the committee of creditors (CoC) by IRP Pankaj Srivastava. Glas Trust is challenging its removal and also seeking Srivastava’s removal as the IRP.
“We will defer it by one week, to 11th September. By that time, if it comes up before the Honourable Supreme Court, then very well and good; otherwise, we will proceed,” the bench said on Wednesday.
According to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the BCCI, he informed the counsel that while the cricket body opposed the constitution of the CoC, it was Glas Trust that insisted on its formation.
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“Now, that the CoC is not to Glas Trust’s liking, so they have taken a somersault and are seeking a stay,” he said. “We are not opposing the constitution of the CoC..Look at the fraud that he (Srivastava) has committed… It is a question of your Lordships’ prestige and power. The IRP has no power of adjudication; it is your power of adjudication,” the counsel representing the US lenders said while requesting the bench to stop further meetings of the CoC.
On Tuesday, CoC held its first meeting where the IRP for the edtech firm removed Glas Trust from its CoC after concluding that it does not represent the minimum 51% of lenders in the consortium that provided a $1.2 billion term loan to Byju’s, sources aware of the matter said. Srivastava secured his role as the permanent resolution professional (RP), sources said.
According to the lenders, Srivastava moved the first CoC meeting 9 hours earlier without informing Glas Trust or its advisors. “He (Srivastava) holds the meeting at 10 am and then says you are disqualified at 10:50 am; what else is this but fraud,” Glas Trust’s counsel said in the NCLT.
The Supreme Court is also hearing an appeal by Glas Trust, opposing a Rs 158 crore settlement arrived at between the edtech firm and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), alleging that the money paid by Byju Raveendran’s brother Riju Ravindran was tainted.
The top court on August 14 revived the insolvency case against Byju’s, suspending the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s order that had quashed bankruptcy proceedings against the company and approved the settlement deal with the BCCI.
On August 27 ET reported that five foreign investors of Think & Learn — General Atlantic Singapore TL Pte Ltd, Peak XV Partners Investments IV, Peak XV Partners Investments V, Sofina SA and MIH Edtech Investments — had moved the Supreme Court seeking intervention in the case filed by Glas Trust.