US bankruptcy court reverses $1 bn damages against Byju Raveendran

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) The US bankruptcy court has overturned the $1 billion compensation award given to Byju Raveendran, according to a statement made by the founders of Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, the parent company of education technology platform Byju’s.

In a default judgment last month, the Delaware Court ordered Raveendran to pay more than $1 billion and said the former corporate star, who founded the eponymous Indian edtech and tutoring company, had refused to cooperate with legal efforts to find nearly half of the proceeds from a $1.2 billion U.S. term loan granted in 2021.

But he disputed the reasons, saying the court did not give him the 30 days he sought to arrange for a U.S. attorney to defend his case. He vowed to appeal the decision.

“The Delaware Court reversed the $1 billion Order against Byju Raveendran, considering new submissions made by Byju Raveendran in a motion to amend the Order dated November 20, 2025. The Court agreed that damages had not been determined and ordered a new phase to begin in early January 2026 to determine any damages related to the claims against Byju Raveendran,” the statement said.

In its decision dated December 8, the court said it would “amend its Default Judgment Opinion to remove sections assessing damages against Byju Raveendran.”

The parties were instructed to state their positions on the issue on January 7.

“After the completion of the briefing on compensation, the court will decide on an appropriate decision,” the statement said.

Earlier this year, Byju’s creditors, including GLAS Trust, sued and accused Raveendran, along with his co-founder wife Divya Gokulnath and another accomplice Anita Kishore, for “masterminding the theft” of loan proceeds worth US$533 million.

The founders had previously described the allegations as “completely unfounded and untrue” and stated that the entire loan proceeds were transferred to Think and Learn Pvt Ltd (TLPL), which used the funds to pay for US$3 billion of acquisitions it made that year.

“GLAS Trust and its lenders concealed or misrepresented information, misled the courts and the public, and contributed to the collapse of the business, the loss of approximately 85,000 jobs, affecting 250 million students and the destruction of tens of billions of dollars in business value,” it said in a statement on Wednesday. he said.

It was stated that Raveendran was considering further action against GLAS Trust and others for this behaviour. He previously said he would file a $2.5 billion lawsuit against GLAS Trust. “Byju Raveendran was not obligated to pay Plaintiffs (GLAS Trust Co LLC) a single dollar in damages today,” said litigation counsel Michael McNutt.

“During the damages proceedings, which begin in January 2026, we aim to show to the Court not only that the Plaintiffs suffered no harm as a result of Byju Raveendran’s actions, but also that the Plaintiffs deliberately misled the Court in this case and other counterclaims.

“We also seek to show that these Plaintiffs attempted to mislead the Courts in India and elsewhere to gain advantage in these Court proceedings by harassing and prejudicing Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath and Riju Ravindran,” he said.

Stating that the defendants reserve the right to seek sanctions against GLAS Trust’s counsel for their conduct in these proceedings, he said, “We will seek the necessary remedy in the Delaware Courts and through the USD 2.5 billion litigation that we intend to file prior to the end of the year.”

The statement said Raveendran will present “conclusive evidence” before the US Courts and prove that GLAS Trust and Resolution Professional (currently managing Byju) have repeatedly misled the Delaware Court, Indian and other Courts and the public with false allegations that US$533 million (Alpha Funds) was diverted by the founders for their personal benefit.

“GLAS Trust’s affidavits that it ‘did not know’ where the money was going are completely false. A review of information available to GLAS Trust since at least April 2025 clearly shows that the monies lent to Alpha (and sent by OCI to companies owned by Byju Raveendran) were indeed deposited into Think & Learn in accordance with all relevant Indian laws and were not ‘siphoned’ to the founders.” he said.

It was stated that the evidence obtained by GLAS Trust’s own lawyers in other contested proceedings and subsequently obtained by Raveendran and his counsel clearly showed that GLAS Trust and Shailendra Ajmera (TLPL Resolution Expert) had full visibility into the use of funds from the Alfa Loan guaranteed by TLPL.

“Furthermore, TLPL’s public financial records confirm that Byju Raveendran and entities controlled by him invested over US$475 million by purchasing shares in TLPL during the same period.”

“This evidence will be presented as part of the full appeal against the amended order of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court dated December 8, 2025 and the previously announced case against the parties worth over US$ 2.5 billion. Byju Raveendran will also share the same evidence with the Indian Courts in the coming weeks.”