Justice (retd) Sharad Kumar Sharma, a judicial member of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Chennai bench, recused himself on Thursday from hearing Riju Raveendran's appeal regarding the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order permitting Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance to be included in Byju's Committee of Creditors (CoC). 

Justice Sharma cited his past association as a lawyer for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the reason for his recusal.

Byju's had been admitted to the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) following a plea filed by BCCI. Justice Sharma explained, "I was not only conducting cases for BCCI, I was also closely associated with the board and the players."

This recusal follows a similar instance in July, when Justice Sharma stepped away from an appeal against an insolvency order. Senior Advocates Arun Kathpalia and Arvindh Pandian appeared for the respective parties in today's proceedings. The matter will now be referred to NCLAT Chairperson, Justice (retd) Ashok Bhushan.

On January 29, the NCLT initiated disciplinary proceedings against Pankaj Srivastava, the Resolution Professional (RP) overseeing Byju's insolvency. Judicial member K Biswal and technical member Ravichandran Ramaswamy set aside Srivastava’s decision to exclude Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance from the CoC. The NCLT found that the actions and decisions of the IRP had prejudiced the CIRP's interests and stakeholders. Furthermore, the NCLT deemed the IRP’s conduct unfit and improper, in violation of tribunal expectations.

As a result, the tribunal directed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) to conduct a disciplinary inquiry into the RP’s conduct and ordered the RP’s removal. It also instructed the newly constituted CoC, including Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance, to decide on appointing a new RP. The NCLT invalidated all decisions made by the RP with the former CoC.

The NCLT, however, has not yet ruled on the BCCI’s application to settle its dispute with Byju’s. 

In a prior development, the Supreme Court, on October 23, overruled the NCLAT's decision to halt insolvency proceedings against Byju’s parent company, Think & Learn, following an appeal by US-based financial creditor Glas Trust.

The apex court remitted the matter to NCLT for reconsideration of the settlement application. Subsequently, Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance filed applications to challenge the RP's recognition of only one financial creditor, leading to a CoC composed solely of that entity, with 100 percent voting rights.

Meanwhile, the BCCI continues to push for its application under Section 12A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), seeking to withdraw the insolvency proceedings.