Indian authorities in mid-March blocked ByteDance’s bank accounts for alleged tax evasion, prompting the company to ask a court to quash the directive which it feared would hurt its operations.

A two-judge bench at the High Court in Mumbai city heard the plea of a ByteDance counsel who said the company was “bleeding” and needed funds to pay staff salaries and rent, but the court gave no relief.

“I’m completely hanged. I need some oxygen to survive. All bank accounts are frozen. I have to pay salary to the staff,” ByteDance’s counsel Prakash Shah told the court, adding that four of the company’s bank accounts had been blocked.