The Bengaluru Bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) deferred the decision on a plea filed by US-based lender Glas Trust Llc for a stay on further meetings of the committee of creditors (CoC) appointed in the insolvency proceedings against Byju’s.

The Bench noted that it cannot stop the 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. However, it said lenders could file a separate application to pursue this.

Glas Trust allegation

This comes at a time when the Glas Trust, the ad-hoc committee of lenders which extended $1.2-billion Term Loan B to the embattled edtech, was allegedly ousted from the CoC by the interim resolution professional (IRP), Pankaj Srivastava.

The ad-hoc committee noted that before August 27, Srivastava had repeatedly confirmed in writing and verbally (including in court filings) that GLAS Trust’s $1.35-billion claim had been verified and admitted, and that it was undoubtedly a member of the CoC.

However, on August 27, Srivastava abruptly cut off all communication with the lenders and ignored efforts by advisors of GLAS Trust to reach him.

Srivastava resumed his role as IRP for Think and Learn, the parent company of Byju’s, on August 14 and established the CoC on August 21.

On Tuesday, the CoC held its first meeting where the IRP removed Glas Trust from the committee after concluding that it does not represent the minimum 51 per cent of lenders in the consortium that provided a $1.2-billion term loan to Byju’s.

Byju’s insolvency

On July 16, the NCLT admitted a plea by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to initiate a corporate insolvency resolution process against Byju’s for defaulting on dues worth ₹158 crore.

In August, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) set aside the insolvency proceedings, allowing Byju’s to settle its dues to BCCI, an operational creditor of the company. However, on August 14, the Supreme Court set aside the appellate tribunal’s decision while hearing a plea filed by Glas Trust opposing the settlement to BCCI.

The Supreme Court will continue its hearing in the matter on October 14.