Byju's vs. Byju's K3: NCLT freezes Byju’s auctioned assets after K3 claims ₹150 crore goods sold for ₹16 crore

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Bengaluru on Monday ordered status quo over assets auctioned by the resolution professional (RP) of Byju’s parent company, Think and Learn Private Limited (TLPL). [Kritikal Solutions Vs Byju's K3]

The direction came after the RP of another Byju's company, K3 Education, claimed that goods worth about ₹150 crore were sold for nearly ₹16 crore.

A Bench of Judicial Member Sunil Kumar Aggarwal and Technical Member Radhakrishna Sreepada also impleaded successful bidder Comprint Tech Solutions (India) Private Limited as party to the proceedings.

The NCLT said the ownership of several auctioned articles remained uncertain and that their preservation was necessary until evidence was produced.

“Even if part of the auctioned articles actually belonged to TLPL, the ownership of rest of the articles remains in haze,” the order stated.

The tribunal added that maintaining status quo would not prejudice any party, whereas a further change in the position of the assets could not subsequently be undone.

Comprint was directed to file a detailed inventory of the assets, photographs and the complete address where they are stored. TLPL’s RP and Comprint have been restrained from altering the status of the assets auctioned under an August 2 notice until the next hearing.

The dispute arose from separate insolvency proceedings against two companies within the Byju’s group.

TLPL, which operated the Byju’s edtech platform, was admitted to the corporate insolvency resolution process in July 2024 on a petition filed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The petition concerned unpaid sponsorship dues of about ₹159 crore.

Byju’s K3 Education is undergoing a separate insolvency process arising from a Section 9 petition filed by operational creditor Kritikal Solutions Private Limited.

Consequently, TLPL and Byju’s K3 are being managed by different resolution professionals.

The present dispute concerns tablets, electronic equipment and other articles stored in a warehouse containing goods connected with TLPL, Byju’s K3 and Aakash.

The RP of Byju’s K3 claimed that a December 2024 communication from logistics company Criticalog specifically identified the assets belonging to K3. Those goods were allegedly handed over to TLPL’s security team and subsequently moved to an IndoSpace warehouse.

According to the K3's RP, repeated requests to inspect the warehouse and identify K3’s assets were refused. It was alleged that some of the boxes contained specialised tablets with educational material intended for children up to Class III.

TLPL’s RP disputed the ownership claim. He contended that Byju’s K3 was only a service provider and that the hardware had been procured and supplied by TLPL. The contents of the devices also belonged to TLPL, it was argued.

TLPL’s RP issued an auction notice on August 2. The auction was conducted on August 14 and Comprint Tech Solutions (India) Private Limited emerged as the successful bidder.

The RP of Byju’s K3 then moved the NCLT to stop the auction. After being informed that the auction had already been completed, the tribunal on August 20 directed TLPL’s RP to disclose the item-wise details, valuation, auction procedure, successful bidder selection process and the account in which the proceeds were deposited.

When the matter was heard again on August 31, TLPL’s RP said that all the auctioned goods were delivered to Comprint. K3's RP claimed that at least 15 vehicles carrying the assets had left the warehouse for Mumbai.

The NCLT consequently impleaded Comprint and directed it to disclose the complete inventory and location of the purchased assets, along with photographs. Comprint and TLPL’s RP were ordered to preserve the assets until the next hearing.

The tribunal has not set aside the auction or finally decided who owns the disputed goods.

The matter will be heard next on September 21.

The RP of Byju’s K3 was represented by advocates Manasi Kumar, Ayushi J D’Souza and Aparna Gupta.

Senior Advocate Abhinav Vasisht appeared for the RP of TLPL along with advocates Pooja Mahajan, Ichchha Kalash, Sparsh Jain, Harikrishna Pramod, Aishwarya Ravindranath and Akshita Sachdeva Jaitly.

Senior Advocate Joy Saha represented the suspended directors.

[Read Order]