Byju's founder gets temporary relief as Singapore High Court stays 6-month jail sentence in contempt case

Byju Raveendran, founder of edtech firm Byju’s, has secured temporary relief after the Singapore High Court stayed the committal and surrender provisions of a civil contempt order against him, according to his legal representatives.

The General Division of the High Court of the Republic of Singapore granted the stay on 10 June, following an application filed on Raveendran’s behalf, according to his legal team.

The stay relates to provisions in a civil contempt order dated 25 May. As a result, Raveendran is not required to surrender and no term of imprisonment will take effect while the stay remains in force, the legal team stated.

An appeal against the contempt finding has also been filed. The earlier order would have required Raveendran to appear on 15 June, according to the statement. His legal team maintained that no arrest warrant had been issued against him.

According to Raveendran’s advisers, the contempt finding arose from contested document-disclosure and other obligations linked to ongoing arbitration proceedings, as well as related Singapore court orders recognising those arbitration orders. They added that those obligations are disputed and that parallel proceedings are under way to challenge the underlying orders.

J Michael McNutt, Senior Litigation Advisor to Raveendran and the founders at Lazareff Le Bars, described reports around the earlier order as having created an “absolutely incorrect public narrative”.

“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. We have filed the necessary appeals to set aside this civil contempt finding and are taking further actions before the courts. There is no criminal charge against Byju Raveendran in that respect,” McNutt stated.

McNutt maintained that the contempt finding was “not a finding on the merits of the underlying dispute” and “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.”

Commenting on the stay, McNutt called the Singapore court’s decision “a significant step in ensuring that the matter is examined fairly and in the correct legal context”.

“We will continue to pursue all available legal remedies to set aside the civil contempt finding. We maintain that Raveendran did not violate any Singapore court order, intentionally or otherwise,” he stated.

Raveendran welcomed the stay and pledged to challenge what he described as a misleading impression of wrongdoing.

“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. 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,” he said.

The development follows earlier reports that a Singapore court had ordered a six-month prison term for Raveendran in a contempt matter linked to alleged non-compliance with disclosure-related orders.

The proceedings are connected to a wider dispute involving a subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority, which had invested in Byju’s during an earlier funding round, according to previous reports.

Byju’s, once valued at $22 billion, has been facing legal and financial challenges across jurisdictions, including insolvency proceedings and creditor claims.