A single judge bench of the Karnataka High Court issued an interim restraining order preventing Byju’s and its founder Byju Raveendran from disposing of certain properties, as Qatar Investment Authority seeks to enforce a $235 million arbitration award against the embattled edtech company. The court’s protective measure comes amid the first hearings in QIA’s petition to convert a Singapore tribunal’s July ruling into an enforceable Indian decree.

During proceedings, Byju’s legal team requested additional time to file objections to the enforcement petition. Rishabh Gupta, appearing for Byju’s and Raveendran, said he is yet to receive a copy of the petition. While counsel assured the court that no asset sales were imminent and a similar undertaking had been provided previously, the judge imposed the interim injunction covering properties listed in the petition’s schedules, effectively freezing transfers until the next hearing date.

Gupta also raised abjections to an interim injunction against properties listed in the petition, as a copy of the petition and application for interim injunction were not yet available to his client.

“Respondents are restrained by order of interim injunction from alienating, encumbering or transferring the properties mentioned in Schedule A and B, or in any manner, parting with possession of immovable properties mentioned therein,” Justice R. Nataraj of the Karnataka High Court observed.

Case Summary

The dispute stems from a September 2022 financing agreement in which Qatar Holding LLC, QIA’s subsidiary, provided $150 million to Raveendran’s Singapore-based investment vehicle. The loan carried Raveendran’s personal guarantee and was secured by shares in Aakash Educational Services Limited, which Byju’s had acquired during its aggressive expansion phase. The agreement explicitly prohibited transferring these shares to third parties.QIA alleges Raveendran breached the contract by subsequently transferring the pledged shares to an entity under his control. Following repeated loan defaults, QIA terminated the agreement in February 2024 and initiated arbitration at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre in March. A Singapore emergency arbitrator imposed a global asset freeze on Raveendran and his investment firm, later upheld by Singapore’s High Court.

The July 2025 SIAC tribunal award granted QIA $235 million plus 4 percent annual interest from February 2024, pushing total claims above $249 million. QIA filed its Karnataka enforcement petition in August, seeking to attach and potentially sell Raveendran’s Indian assets.

Background and Context

The legal battle unfolds against Byju’s spectacular fall from grace. Once valued at $22 billion and hailed as India’s edtech pioneer, the company now faces insolvency proceedings and multiple creditor disputes globally. Raveendran’s aggressive acquisition strategy, including the $950 million Aakash purchase, relied heavily on debt financing that became unsustainable as the company’s growth stalled post-pandemic.

The Karnataka court had previously declined interim relief in April 2025 but maintained temporary protective orders while directing QIA to pursue remedies through the arbitration tribunal.

This case exemplifies the growing sophistication of sovereign wealth funds in pursuing cross-border debt recovery through international arbitration coupled with domestic enforcement mechanisms.