The Bengaluru Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has deferred the hearing of the ‘oppression and mismanagement plea’ filed against Byju’s by investors to June 6.
The investors — Peak XV Partners, General Atlantic, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative and Prosus — have accused the embattled edtech of using some of the funds raised during the rights issue in violation of a NCLT order dated February 27.
The investor side alleged that Byju’s had not deposited the money it had received from rights issue prior to February 27 in the escrow account. They also alleged that the company has allotted shares to those who participated in the rights issue, which was against the court’s order to maintain the status quo of the shareholding pattern.
However, Byju’s denied the allegations made by the iinvestors regarding violation of the court order.
The NCLT had directed Byju’s to keep the proceeds of the rights issue in an escrow account to protect investors’ right. The tribunal had also asked the company to not allot shares to investors participating in the rights issue without increasing its authorised share capital.
While the tribunal had shown inclination to direct Byju’s to file an affidavit, it did not do so since the investors had not filed any application. The investors were directed to file either an application or an affidavit to put their claims on record in a week’s time. Byju’s lawyers said they would file a response in two weeks from then.
The NCLT also reprimanded the founders of Think and Learn, parent of Byju’s, for delay in filing their reply to the petition despite two weeks granted in February.
On Monday, Byju’s has paid partial salaries to employees for March, reported businessline. Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO of Think and Learn, has raised debt in his personal capacity to pay the salaries of employees for March.