One day following the shareholders’ choice to oust Byju Raveendran, the CEO and founding father of the ed-tech agency Byju’s, Raveendran asserted in a letter to staff that ‘rumours’ of his dismissal from Byju’s are inaccurate.

In a message to staff, the 44-year-old entrepreneur characterised Friday’s extraordinary normal assembly (EGM) of shareholders as a “farce” and asserted that reports of his dismissal from Byju’s were “greatly exaggerated and highly inaccurate.”

“I’m scripting this letter to you because the CEO of our firm. Contrary to what you could have learn within the media, I proceed to stay CEO, the administration stays unchanged, and the board stays the identical,” he said.

“The claims made by a small group of select minority shareholders that they have unanimously passed the resolution in the EGM is completely wrong. Only 35 out of 170 shareholders (representing around 45% of shareholding) voted in favour of the resolution. That in itself shows the very limited support that this irrelevant meeting received,” Raveendran informed staff.

“Just as you’ll be able to’t change the foundations of a recreation halfway with out settlement from all gamers, we will’t alter how our firm is run with out following these strict tips,” he added.

Byju’s shareholders on Friday voted unanimously to remove founder CEO Raveendran and his family from the board over alleged “mismanagement and failures” at what was as soon as India’s hottest tech startup, however the firm dug in its heels, calling the voting performed in absence of founders as invalid and ineffective.

Founder CEO Raveendran, his spouse and brother – the one three members on firm board as of now – stayed away from the EGM known as by a bunch of six traders, who collectively maintain greater than 32 per cent in Think & Learn (T&L), the agency that operates on-line tution platform Byju’s.

In the top, greater than 60 per cent of the shareholders voted in favour of all of the seven resolutions, which included eradicating the present administration, reconfiguration of the board and a 3rd celebration forensic investigation into acquisitions performed by the corporate, sources near the traders stated.

However, sources near Byju’s put the quantity at 47 per cent, information company PTI reported.

Prosus – one of many six traders who had known as the EGM – in an announcement stated “shareholders unanimously handed all resolutions put ahead for vote.

“These included a request for the decision of the excellent governance, monetary mismanagement and compliance points at Byju’s; the reconstitution of the board of administrators, in order that it’s now not managed by the founding father of T&L; and a change of management of the corporate.”

Sources with direct knowledge of the matter told PTI the EGM was to start at 0930 hours on Friday but was delayed for almost an hour as around 200 people, some of them Byju’s employees, sought to join the virtual meet.

Only after due verification, the investors were let in, they said, adding some 40 people representing the investors were allowed in and voted on the resolution moved by some investors.

However, the outcome of the vote at the EGM will not be applicable until March 13, when the Karnataka High Court will next hear Raveendran’s plea challenging the move by certain investors to call the meeting.

The High Court on Wednesday refused to stay the EGM but stated that any resolution passed shall not be given effect till the next date of hearing. Raveendran and family own 26.3 per cent of the company.

Byju’s in a statement, issued before the EGM results were declared, said it “firmly declares that the resolutions passed during the recently concluded EGM – attended by a small cohort of select shareholders – are invalid and ineffective. The passing of the unenforceable resolutions challenges the rule of law at worst.”

Ahead of the EGM, 4 out of the six traders, on Thursday night filed an oppression and mismanagement go well with in opposition to the administration of the corporate within the Bengaluru bench of the NCLT, in search of the declaration of founders, together with CEO Byju Raveendran, as unfit to run the corporate, appointment of a brand new board, declaring the just-concluded rights problem as void and a forensic audit of accounts.

A Byju’s spokesperson reacting to the information of the go well with being filed stated the corporate has not obtained any formal intimation of any such petition. “Indian regulation stipulates due course of for conducting an EGM, intimation of petitions being filed in NCLT, and so forth. But sure shareholders desire to fabricate a media spectacle versus following due course of.”

Sources said as per the process, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will issue notices once the petition gets admitted.

“As shareholders and significant investors, we are confident in our position on the validity of the EGM meeting and its decisive outcome, which we will now present to the Karnataka High Court in line with due process,” Prosus stated.

Byju’s in its assertion cited the Karnataka High Court order and stated “coupled with quite a few procedural irregularities and deficiencies, invalidates the resolutions handed by a choose, slender group of shareholders.”

“These resolutions were voted upon without the valid constitution of a quorum, as stipulated in BYJU’S Articles of Association (AoA). According to Articles 38 and 39(a) of the AoA, at least one founder-director is required to form a valid quorum.

“As the founders did not participate in the meeting, the quorum was never legitimately established, rendering the resolutions null and void,” it stated, including “solely round 20 per cent of the variety of shareholders attended this farcical EGM.”

Byju’s referred to the number of shareholders and not the shareholding they hold in the company.

“The founders maintain that this purported EGM was designed to provoke a trial by the media and is fundamentally devoid of merit, having been brought forward by a select few shareholders as part of a self-serving agenda against the company and its founders,” it stated.

“In any occasion, these resolutions merely request the Board to “think about” the recommendations passed at the EGM. They do not have any binding effect whatsoever on the company or its decision-making processes. As such, the resolutions lack the necessary authority to impose any obligations on Byju’s or its directors.”

Investors have additionally sought a forensic audit of the corporate within the plea filed earlier than the NCLT on Thursday night, in keeping with a court docket submitting. They sought to declare the current administration as unfit to run the corporate and appoint a brand new CEO and a brand new board. The plea additionally desires a forensic audit and a path to the administration to share info with the traders.

Sources stated the plea additionally seeks a declaration of the just-concluded USD 200 million rights provide as void and sought a path that the corporate shouldn’t take any company actions that can prejudice the rights of the traders.

The petition has been signed by 4 traders — Prosus, GA, Sofina, and Peak XV — together with assist from different shareholders, together with Tiger and Owl Ventures.

The edtech agency within the final one 12 months suffered different setbacks, together with its auditor resigning, lenders starting chapter proceedings in opposition to a holding firm and a US lawsuit disputing the phrases and compensation of a mortgage.