Delhi High Court Issues Notice To Riju Ravindran On Byju's Alpha Plea To Enforce $840K DIFC Courts Order

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from Riju Ravindran, co-founder of Byju's parent Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, on an execution petition filed by Byju's Alpha Inc., a Delaware-incorporated company and Think & Learn group company.

Byju's Alpha is seeking enforcement of a Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts order directing Ravindran to pay USD 8,40,000 towards costs.

Justice Manoj Jain was hearing the execution petition filed by Byju's Alpha against Ravindran against a January 23, 2026 order of the DIFC Courts.

The DIFC proceedings involved two claims filed by Byju's Alpha that were pending adjudication. While considering applications filed by Ravindran, the DIFC Court directed him to pay USD 8,40,000, approximately 60% of the company's estimated costs, within 14 days.

Reportedly, the DIFC Court awarded Byju's Alpha the costs after rejecting Ravindran's challenge to proceedings seeking enforcement of a separate USD 540.647 million judgment against him by the US Bankruptcy Court. Ravindran had also challenged measures, including a worldwide freezing order over his assets.

Byju's Alpha approached the Delhi High Court contending that the DIFC order directing payment of costs constituted a foreign decree that could be enforced in India under Section 44A of the Civil Procedure Code.

The company argued that the requirement under Section 44A(2), which requires a decree holder seeking execution of a foreign decree to produce a certificate from the foreign court stating the extent to which the decree has been satisfied or adjusted, was fulfilled by a penal notice issued by the DIFC Courts on September 8, 2026.

The notice recorded that the January 23 order was final and executory. Byju's Alpha contended that the notice therefore fulfilled the requirement under Section 44A(2) and relied on judgments of the Bombay and Delhi High Courts in support of its contention.

Ravindran opposed the execution petition and disputed its maintainability. His counsel sought time to file a reply while reserving all rights and contentions.

Byju's Alpha has also filed applications seeking relief in relation to Ravindran's assets. One application has been filed under Order XXI Rules 46 and 12 read with Sections 60 and 151 of the Civil Procedure Code. The Resolution Professional of Think & Learn Pvt Ltd has also been made a respondent in that application.

The matter has been listed for November 23, 2026.

For Decree Holder: Senior Advocates Raj Shekhar Rao, Advocates R Dhillon, P. Veer Misra, Rajarshi Roy and Harshit

For Judgment Debtor: Senior Advocate J. Sai Deepak, Advocates Rishab Gupta, Avinash Sharma, Sradhayna Mudrika, Anshika Bajpai, Prachi Bhatia and Dronitt Arora