Singapore court stays Byju Raveendran's surrender, imprisonment pending appeal in contempt case

Byju's founder Byju Raveendran has secured interim relief from the Singapore High Court, which has stayed the surrender and imprisonment provisions of a civil contempt order passed against him last month, according to an ANI report citing counsels representing Raveendran.

The General Division of the High Court of the Republic of Singapore on June 10 granted a stay on the enforcement of the May 25 order, meaning Raveendran is not required to surrender and no term of imprisonment takes effect while the matter is under appeal.

An appeal against the contempt finding has also been filed.

The original order would have required Raveendran to appear before the court on June 15. According to his legal team, no arrest warrant was issued against him.

Dispute relates to civil contempt, says legal team

According to counsels representing Raveendran, the order under appeal relates to a civil contempt finding arising from disputed document-disclosure obligations and related requirements in ongoing arbitration proceedings and associated Singapore court orders.

J Michael McNutt, senior litigation advisor to Raveendran and the founders, said a misleading public narrative had emerged following reports on the earlier order.

"There was an absolutely incorrect public narrative created post the selective verbal leak of the earlier order by the Singapore Court falsely claiming an arrest warrant had been issued against Mr Raveendran," McNutt said, according to the ANI report.

"A routine contract dispute for a loan that Raveendran guaranteed for the benefit of Think & Learn has been twisted into a false narrative of an arrest warrant," he added.

McNutt further said the matter does not involve criminal charges and is not a finding on allegations of fraud, dishonesty, diversion of funds or personal wrongdoing.

"There is no criminal charge against Byju Raveendran in that respect. It is not a finding on the merits of the underlying dispute, and it is certainly not a finding of fraud, dishonesty, diversion of funds, or personal wrongdoing. No court, in any jurisdiction, has made such a finding against Raveendran," he said.

Raveendran welcomes relief

Welcoming the stay order, Raveendran said the decision would allow the dispute to be addressed through the legal process.

"I welcome the stay granted by the Singapore Court. At a time when parties have been engaged in settlement discussions, it is unfortunate that a misleading impression of wrongdoing is being created. I remain committed to correcting this narrative through the appropriate legal process," he said.

Raveendran also rejected suggestions that the founders personally benefited from the disputed funds.

"Neither I nor any of the founders personally received any portion of the disputed funds. On the contrary, my family and I have put over ₹5,000 crore of our personal wealth back into the company," he said.