Mumbai, Oct. 27: The Tata group flew into more stormy weather today with the Centre saying it is keeping a close watch on developments related to AirAsia India, where the Tatas are a partner, even as the Federation of Indian Airlines moved the Supreme Court against the Air Asia-Tata joint venture.

A day after Tata Group's ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry spoke of fraudulent transactions at AirAsia India, the aviation ministry said all issues would be looked into and the "law of the land will have to be followed" in case of any violation.

"Laws under policies have to be followed. Whatever (issue) anybody raises, they will have to be looked into," civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju told reporters.

In a confidential letter dated October 25, Mistry wrote about certain financial irregularities in AirAsia India, including a "fraudulent transaction" of Rs 22 crore.

Raju today said: "The regulator provides the licence... If there are violations in it, the courts are there to look at it. Our concern here is that we should keep Indian skies vibrant. We have sustained a 20 per cent growth. Why should we put a stop to it."

"We are waiting for any input from any quarter," civil aviation secretary R.N. Choubey said, adding, "we have not received anything so far".

Another aviation ministry official said: "If anything is brought to the ministry's attention, appropriate authorities will look into it."

FIA plea

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) today moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the operational clearance granted to AirAsia India, which violated India's foreign direct investment norms.

FIA comprises Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir and claims to represent more than 90 per cent of the domestic airlines industry.

The association sought either a stay or directions for expeditious hearing of the matter pending before the Delhi high court.

The "agreement places effective control in the hands of a foreign party," senior advocate Dushyant Dave argued on behalf of the FIA.

The FIA plea contended that AirAsia, when it applied for the flying licence, did not disclose its brand equity agreement by which the control of the airline would remain with it.

Analysts, however, said it was unlikely that the FIA challenge would do more harm than rake up issues raised earlier by Subramanian Swamy as the joint venture had been approved by the government after detailed scrutiny.