Kerala Police Book GLAS Trust over alleged forged authorisation in BYJU’s insolvency

Kochi: Police in Ernakulam have opened a criminal investigation against GLAS Trust Company LLC and several others following claims that a key lender-authorisation document used in the insolvency of Think & Learn Private Limited (the parent of BYJU’S) was fabricated.

An FIR (No. 0736/2026) was filed on October 20 at Palarivattom Police Station under Sections 318(4), 336(3), 340(2), 61 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The case stems from a complaint by Rajendran Vellappalath, Managing Director of Voizzit Technology Private Limited, who alleges that a Direction Letter dated July 25, 2024, was improperly created and then used to claim authority on behalf of lenders.

The complaint and related submissions in Kerala High Court Review Petition No. 1228 of 2026 assert that the July letter reused signature pages from an earlier Direction Letter of January 18, 2024. According to the petitioners, dates were changed, certain lender names and amounts were modified while the signatures stayed the same, and some figures were added as electronic comments rather than being written on the signed pages. Signature images are also said to have been copied across pages, and the final file is described as a Word document converted to PDF rather than one carrying genuine electronic signatures.

The petitioners argue that the letter’s authenticity matters because GLAS Trust needed support from lenders holding more than half the relevant exposure to act as it did. They claim that setting aside the contested signature pages would drop the indicated lender backing from roughly 95 per cent to about 42 per cent. The same authorisation is said to have underpinned recognition of a claim of ₹11,432.98 crore and 99.41 per cent of the creditors’ committee voting rights on August 21, 2024.

The complainant has asked for the original electronic files, related emails from GLAS Trust, current and former insolvency professionals, and Microsoft to be preserved and produced. It also seeks forensic examination by the Cyber Forensic Division of the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram to establish how the document was created, whether signatures or details were altered or reused, and its overall provenance.

Registration of the FIR means the police will now investigate the origin and use of the disputed papers and the roles of those named. The allegations have not been tested in court, and the FIR itself does not amount to a finding of guilt. Any conclusions will depend on the investigation and subsequent judicial scrutiny.

Sources for this report include FIR No. 0736/2026 of Palarivattom Police Station, the petitioners’ bench note in Kerala High Court Review Petition No. 1228 of 2026, and the complaint and corrected-statement draft dated October 20, 2026.

(With inputs from local sources)