Divya Gokulnath, Co-founder of embattled EdTech giant BYJU'S and wife of Founder Byju Raveendran, has pushed back against allegations of financial misconduct, asserting that the couple lacks the funds to even afford legal representation in the United States.
In a recent interview with news agency ANI, Gokulnath addressed the claims that they siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars, stating, “If we truly had that kind of money, we wouldn’t be struggling to pay lawyers.”
According to Gokulnath, the absence of legal counsel in US court proceedings has left them vulnerable.
“I'll show you emails where they say, give us a million dollars. Lawyers are saying, Give us a million dollars or we won't represent. Where do I get the million dollars from? If we were sitting on 533 million dollars, this would not be the situation, right? We would have been fighting in the courts. We would have thrown money at lawyers,” she added.
BYJU'S is currently entangled in legal disputes across both Indian and US jurisdictions, primarily over unpaid loans and alleged financial irregularities.
Gokulnath also criticised what she described as “unfair personal attacks” targeting her family.
“Honestly, I don't care about the money. It comes, it goes. And Lakshmi can come and go. Saraswati is with us. Goddess Saraswati is always with us. For me, it's about the tarnishing which has happened, which I feel is so unfair,” she said.
Highlighting the company’s founding vision, she said the goal was always to create a Make in India success story.
“At the time when people were going abroad and setting up their companies because that was much more lucrative, we resisted it. We said, no, this has to be a make in India story. We will make our products in India. We will give our services from India, and we will be an example for the world in education. Because education belongs to India,” Gokulnath said.
She further alleged that her husband has been the target of a systematic campaign meant to isolate and silence him.
