|
In a significant development for Edutech entrepreneur Byju Raveendran, the General Division of the High Court of the Republic of Singapore on June 10 granted a stay of its committal and surrender provisions of the recent civil contempt order dated May 25, following the application filed on behalf of Byju Raveendran, said counsels for Raveendran.
Raveendran is accordingly not required to surrender, and no term of imprisonment takes effect. An appeal against the contempt finding has also been filed.The original order of May 25 would have required Raveendran to appear on June 15. No arrest warrant was issued against Raveendran. According to the counsels for Raveendran, the order under appeal is a civil contempt finding arising solely from contested document-disclosure and other obligations in ongoing arbitration proceedings (and related Singapore Court Orders recognizing those arbitration orders) that are disputed and for which parallel proceedings are underway to set aside those underlying orders. J Michael McNutt, Senior Litigation Advisor to Byju Raveendran and the Founders, Lazareff Le Bars said," 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. 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. 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." Commenting further on the stay, McNutt added,"The Singapore Court's decision to grant a stay is 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." Speaking on the development, Byju Raveendran said, "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. 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." (ANI)
|
