BYJU’S owner Byju Raveendran. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), through its subsidiary Qatar Holding LLC, has stepped up its legal battle against Byju Raveendran and his investment arm Byju’s Investments Pte. Ltd. (BIPL) by moving the Karnataka High Court to enforce an arbitral award worth $235 million, it said in a statement on Monday (August 25, 2025).
The arbitral sum, approximately ₹2,060 crore, was sought with interest at 4% per annum, compounding daily, accruing from February 28, 2024 to the date of payment. Such interest currently amounts to over $ 4 million, some ₹123 crore, as per the QIA communique.
Also read | Byju’s woes: A timeline of the Indian edutech giant’s troubles at home and abroad
“The enforcement petition is a concerted effort to reclaim money that is lawfully owed under contract. Armed with a worldwide freezing order and parallel proceedings being pursued in a series of jurisdictions, the sovereign wealth fund looks to be pursuing all avenues of redress open to it in order to hold Mr. Raveendran and his entities responsible.’‘ said QIA in a statement.
According to QIA, the dispute dates back to September 2022, when Qatar Holding extended $150 million in financing to BIPL. The loan was personally guaranteed by Byju Raveendran, the co-founder and principal shareholder of Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd, the holding entity of BYJU’s, the troubled Edtech firm.
The funds were used to part finance the acquisition of 17,891,289 shares in Aakash Educational Services Ltd., and there was an express restriction against transferring those shares. In breach of the agreement, the shares were later transferred to another Singapore-based corporate entity controlled by Mr. Raveendran, it said.
Following repeated defaults, Qatar Holding terminated the financing arrangement and demanded early repayment of $235 million. However, Both BIPL and Mr. Raveendran failed to meet their respective obligations under the contract and the personal guarantee, it added.
In March 2024, Qatar Holding commenced arbitration in Singapore. The Emergency Arbitrator ordered a global freezing order on BIPL’s and Mr. Raveendran’s funds and assets, upto a value of $235 million, in the threat of dissipation of assets. The Singapore High Court subsequently confirmed the award and the global freezing order.
On 14 July 2025, the final award was made by the arbitral tribunal to order the payment of $235 million to Qatar Holding immediately, and an interest rate of 4% from February 2024, compounding daily. The interest so accrued has already exceeded $14 million and hence increases the total obligation more than $249 million (approx. ₹2,183 crore), QIA elaborated.
On enforcement in India, the company explained that the Qatar Holding had filed an enforcement petition on August 12 2025, before Karnataka High Court. The petition sought enforcement of the award as a decree of court, and issuance of an injunction against transfer of assets by Mr. Raveendran or BIPL, along with attachment/sale of their immovable and movable assets in India.
QIA’s enforcement action is the newest in a series of increasing global judicial examinations facing Mr. Raveendran. In the U.S., he has been held in contempt of court in bankruptcy hearings and directed to pay $10,000 (₹8.7 lakh) a day until he makes disclosures that are required. There have been claims of disappearance of $533 million in a $1.2 billion loan taken by a subsidiary of Think & Learn (i.e. BYJU’S). Public accounts also reference his belligerent comments, including assertions that the missing money was “somewhere the lenders will never find,’‘ the QIA statement further alleged.
In the meantime, his own company that he started, BYJU’s, continues its insolvency battle, with stakeholders blaming its crisis on senior-level mismanagement.
Published – August 25, 2025 06:29 pm IST
