ED upgrades Look out Circular against BYJU's promoter Byju Raveendran
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has upgraded its Look out Circular (LC) issued against BJYU's founder and CEO Byju Raveendran in connection with a FEMA probe, seeking to stop him from going abroad.
The earlier such alert meant that immigration authorities had to just intimate the agency about his movements through various ports.
Official sources said that the over a year old LC was revised sometime back in light of investors' concerns and ongoing adjudication of a FEMA contravention case against Raveendran and some others.
BYJU's did not comment on the development.
Raveendran is currently stated to be in Dubai.
ALSO READ: Karnataka HC refuses to stay BYJU'S EGM on Feb 23
The ED has asked the Bureau of Immigration to upgrade the LC against Raveendran so that he is not allowed to go abroad from any Indian land, air or land port before the investigating officer (IO) of the case is informed.
Under the new LC, it will be the decision of the IO to either totally stop his foreign travel or allow him to do so after asking some questions and getting assurances, the sources said.
The LC in operation till now against Raveendran only stipulated the immigration authorities to inform the ED about his entry and exit from the country. The agency, in November last year, had slapped a foreign exchange violation show cause notice of more than Rs 9,300 crore against BYJU's and Raveendran.
The federal probe agency spelled out multiple grounds for charging the ed-tech company and its chief promoter that included charges of "failing" to submit documents of imports against advance remittances made outside India; failing to realise proceeds of exports made outside India by delayed filing of documents against the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) received into the company, among others.
The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday had refused to stay an emergency shareholder meeting called by select investors of Think and Learn Pvt Ltd - the owner of BYJU'S - to oust Raveendran and his family from the leadership in the edtech firm.
The court gave an interim relief that any resolution passed at the EGM scheduled on Friday cannot be implemented before the next court hearing.
Select shareholders of BYJU'S have issued an EGM notice to be held on February 23, demanding a change in leadership of the edtech firm while alleging several anomalies in their functioning.
Meanwhile, Raveendran issued a letter to shareholders on Wednesday appealing all investors to participate in the USD 200 million rights issue floated by the company. He later shared that the rights issue has been fully subscribed.
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Among developing states, TN leads with growth of 11.19 per cent, no thanks to BJP: Udhayanidhi
Thanjavur/Pudukottai (PTI): Tamil Nadu currently stands as the number one state among India’s developing regions, boasting a significant growth rate of 11.19 per cent, despite a stark lack of support from the BJP-led union government, Deputy Chief Minister Udhyanidhi Stalin said on Sunday.
"The central administration has failed to provide requested projects or the funds rightfully due to the state. This neglect reached a peak in the last Union Budget, where the name "Tamil Nadu" was entirely absent, with no new projects allocated to the region," Udhayanidhi told the gathered crowd at Peravurani in Thanjavur.
He also accused the central government of "attempting to undermine" the state's cultural identity by re-imposing a 'Three-Language Policy' and pushing Hindi and Sanskrit into the territory.
"While these threats loom, the opposition leader, Edappadi Palaniswami, remains silent. Instead of questioning these injustices, he has formed an alliance with the BJP, effectively facilitating the entry of these policies into Tamil Nadu," the Deputy Chief Minister added.
According to him, the upcoming assembly election presents a critical opportunity for the people to respond to this continuous neglect.
"It is time for the voters to decide whether to support the Tamil Nadu team or a Delhi team that ignores the state’s developmental needs and linguistic heritage," he added.
Earlier, speaking at Viralimalai in Pudukottai, he argued that this election "is a war between the Delhi Team and the Tamil Nadu Team".
"We are the Tamil Nadu Team...we must send Delhi Team back to where they came from with a decisive win," he said.
He urged the electorate to break the "remote control" Delhi uses to try and control Tamil Nadu.
Udhayanidhi attacked the opposition, specifically targeting incumbent MLA and AIADMK candidate C Vijayabaskar by calling him a "drama company actor", who is part of a "slave group" being threatened by the CBI and ED.
The deputy CM listed the infrastructure and welfare achievements of the "Dravidian Model" government, specifically mentioning quality road works worth Rs 25 crore for 30 km and drinking water connections worth Rs 17 crore in the region.
He also claimed that the DMK revived the laptop scheme for college students after the AIADMK abandoned it in 2019.
Looking toward a second term, he promised that the government would increase the women's entitlement amount to Rs 2,000 and build Rs 10 lakh houses under the 'Kalaignar Kanavu Illam' initiative for those without homes.
Invoking his political lineage, he told the local cadre to set a high target, noting that while the party lost the seat by a narrow margin previously, this time DMK must win by a margin of "50,000 votes to drive away the slave group".
