Singapore Court Grants Interim Relief To Byju Raveendran Pending Appeal

The General Division of the High Court of the Republic of Singapore has granted interim relief to Byju’s founder, Byju Raveendran, by staying parts of a civil contempt order issued against him, pending the outcome of his appeal.

According to a statement, the court suspended the committal and surrender provisions contained in its May 25 civil contempt order after reviewing an application filed on Raveendran’s behalf.

As a result, Byju Raveendran does not have to surrender himself, and he will not serve any imprisonment term while the appeal process remains ongoing.

The development follows media reports that alleged the issuance of an arrest warrant against Raveendran after the original court order.

The statement rejected those reports as inaccurate, stating that no court had issued an arrest warrant against him. It further clarified that the May 25 order only required him to appear before the court on June 15.

Case Background

The civil contempt finding stems from an ongoing dispute involving document disclosure and other obligations linked to arbitration proceedings.

The statement noted that the parties are challenging the underlying arbitration orders through separate legal proceedings and are seeking to have them set aside.

Commenting on the matter, J Michael McNutt, Senior Litigation Advisor to Raveendran and the founders at Lazareff Le Bars, said the public narrative surrounding the case had been misleading.

“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 Raveendran,” McNutt mentioned.

“A routine contract dispute for a loan that Raveendran guaranteed for the benefit of Think & Learn has twisted into a false narrative of an arrest warrant. We have filed the necessary appeals to set aside this civil contempt finding and are taking further actions before the Courts,” he added.

McNutt said there were no criminal charges against Raveendran and that no court had found him guilty of fraud, dishonesty, diversion of funds or any personal wrongdoing.

Raveendran welcomed the court’s decision and said he would continue to address what he described as a misleading narrative through legal channels.

“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.

“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 Rs 5,000 crore of our personal wealth back into the company,” Raveendran mentioned.

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