‘If we had $533 million, we’d fight’: As lawsuits pile up, Divya Gokulnath says BYJU’S too broke to hire legal help

In the thick of mounting legal woes and public scrutiny, BYJU’S co-founder Divya Gokulnath has come forward to dismiss allegations of financial misconduct, claiming that she and her husband, Byju Raveendran, are so strapped for cash they can’t even afford lawyers to defend themselves in US courts. If they really had access to hundreds of millions, she argues, they wouldn’t be this vulnerable.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Gokulnath addressed recent Delaware court judgements against BYJU’S, blaming them on the couple’s inability to hire legal representation. “Today, in the US, judgements are passed back to back to us by one court. Because we don't have representation. Yeah. 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 said the public backlash and personal criticism they’re facing is unjustified. “Honestly, I don't care about the money. It comes, it goes. And Lakshmi 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. It was all about what we could do for our country. And not what the country can do for us. So we are a made in India, made by Indians, proudly made for the world's product, service, company, people, students-first company,” she told ANI.

Gokulnath underscored their decision to stay in India and build BYJU’S as a "Make in India" success story, even as many other founders moved overseas chasing better prospects.

The company is currently entangled in legal battles over unpaid dues, with cases in both Indian and US courts.

Gokulnath also claimed that an orchestrated campaign had been launched to intimidate her husband, alleging that close aides, family members, and legal teams were being threatened. Echoing her concerns, Raveendran spoke of alarming visits to the homes of senior staff. “People get scared when somebody walks in, intrudes into a home in the context of not having answers,” he said.

Despite the turmoil, Gokulnath maintained that their collective resolve is rooted in a shared belief in their mission and the truth.