Singapore’s High Court declined to stay the six-month jail sentence imposed on Byju Raveendran, meaning the founder of the failed education startup risks imprisonment if he returns to the city-state, according to Bloomberg.

 

The court on July 9 ruled against Raveendran’s application to have the sentence stayed. The court originally pronounced the contempt sentence in May and granted a stay on it last month until the next hearing.

 

The decision marks the latest setback for Raveendran, a former teacher who founded online tutor Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd, widely known as Byju’s. The company turned him into a billionaire and made him one of the biggest success stories among a wave of Indian startups before collapsing following rapid expansion and alleged corporate governance lapses, Bloomberg reported.

 
 

Raveendran has appealed the May ruling to Singapore’s Court of Appeal.

 

In a statement, Lazareff Le Bars, the law firm representing Byju Raveendran, said the General Division of the High Court of the Republic of Singapore had granted a stay on June 10, 2026, of the committal and surrender provisions of the recent civil contempt order dated May 25, 2026, following the application filed on behalf of Byju Raveendran. It said Raveendran is accordingly not required to surrender, and no term of imprisonment takes effect. An appeal against the contempt finding has also been filed.

 

Following the original order of May 25, 2026, the law firm said sections of the media reported the matter as if an arrest warrant had been issued against Mr Raveendran. That reporting was false. The order would have required Raveendran to appear only on June 15, 2026. “No arrest warrant was or has ever been issued against Mr Raveendran at any point by any court,” said Lazareff Le Bars.

 

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 recognising those arbitration orders) that are disputed and for which parallel proceedings are under way to set aside those underlying orders.

 

“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 Mr Raveendran guaranteed for the benefit of Think & Learn has been twisted into a false narrative of an arrest warrant,” said J. Michael McNutt, senior litigation adviser to Byju Raveendran and the founders, Lazareff Le Bars. “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 Mr 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 Mr 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 Mr 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.”

 

In June, the General Division of the High Court of the city-state, on June 10, granted a stay on the “committal and surrender provisions” of the recent civil contempt order dated May 25. This followed the application filed on behalf of Raveendran. An appeal against the contempt finding has also been lodged.

 

On May 25, the same court reportedly sentenced Raveendran to six months in jail for contempt after finding that he failed to comply with multiple court orders related to his assets dating back to April 2024.

 

The court ordered Raveendran to surrender to the authorities, pay 90,000 Singapore dollars (about $70,500), and submit documents establishing his legal ownership of Beeaar Investco Pte, an entity that held shares in a related company, according to a Bloomberg report.

 

Raveendran is facing claims from overseas investors, including in the United States, where lenders are seeking to recover losses tied to a soured $1.2 billion loan.

 

He is also facing legal action in Singapore from Qatar Holdings, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a sovereign wealth fund that invested in Byju’s during a funding round conducted as the company was cutting jobs and reducing headcount.

 

Valued at $22 billion in 2022, Byju’s has seen its fortunes dwindle due to a massive cash crunch, regulatory issues, and disputes with investors.