Byju's Crisis: ED issues look out circular for Byju Raveendran ahead of investor meet on Friday

In an yet another setback for Byju's Raveendran, the Enforcement Directorate has issued a 'look out circular' to the Edtech founder. ED has asked asked the Bureau of Immigration (BOI) to issue a look out circular (LOC) against Byju Raveendran to ensure Raveendran does not leave the country.

Look-Out-Notice to Raveendran

As per The Economic Times, Raveendran has already been issued an LOC 'on intimation' more than one and a half years ago at the request of the ED's Kochi office. However, the investigation was later transferred to the Bengaluru office of the agency.

An LOC 'on intimation' leads to the immigration authorities informing a probe agency about the individual going overseas but the person is not stopped from leaving the country.

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The report quoted a senior government official and said that even if Raveendran is out of the country at the time of issuing the notice, he will not be allowed to leave the country once he comes back.

"The LOC, once opened, will ensure that the interest of investors is safeguarded and the case is taken to its logical conclusion without any difficulty," the person told The Economic Times.

As per The Economic Times, Raveendran has mostly been shuttling between Delhi and Dubai for the past three years. He was in Bengaluru earlier this week and was in Delhi last week on a work trip. Raveendran told ET that he was currently in Dubai. He had left for the emirate earlier this week and "will be travelling to Singapore tomorrow".

The report further mentioned that the decision to approach the BOI for a "revised" LOC was taken keeping in view the "interest of investors". The push also comes amidst the foreign exchange violations charges faced by the company

Relief from Karnataka High court

Meanwhile, a Karnataka high court has passed on order that any resolution taken on the investors meet on Friday will not be considered valid till the time the court is done with hearing their petition. The court was hearing a petition by Think & Learn Pvt Ltd (the parent company of Byju’s) arguing that certain investors, including General Atlantic, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, MIH EdTech Investments, Own Ventures, Peak XV Partners, SCI Investments, SCHF PV Mauritius, Sands Capital Global Innovation Fund, Sofina and T. Rowe Price Associates, had violated the Articles of Association (AoA), the Shareholders’ Agreement (SHA), and the Companies Act, 2013 by calling for an EGM.

This now makes Raveendran immune to some investors' efforts to oust him from the board. The investors have also lost the right to vote for removing Divya Gokulnath and Riju Raveendran from the board of directors.