Mumbai: Market watchdog Sebi today claimed before the Securities Appellate tribunal (SAT) that the Companies Act gives it enough powers to regulate unlisted companies if such entities have raised funds from the public. "Does Sebi have powers under Section 55A (of the Companies Act? My answer is yes. If OFCD is a security under the Securities Act, then it comes under the Sebi Act. And if it comes under the Sebi Act, then Sebi has jurisdiction. Sebi can (therefore) pass a special order to regulate unlisted companies," Sebi Counsel Arvind P Datar calimed before SAT. Datar was contesting Sahara Group's claim that its OFCD (optionally fully convertible debentures) were not a public issue and therefore cannot be regulated by Sebi. Sahara had been ordered by the Sebi to refund the money its two group companies had raised from the public through an OFCD issue The company has challenged Sebi order at the SAT. Datar further argued that Sahara companies OFCDs were issued to the public and that it was actually "a public offer dressed up as a private placement". Pointing out that even the legal provisions which Sahara took recourse to were meant for a public issue, Datar said, Sahara has taken recourse to Section 60B of the Companies Act, a provision meant for a public issue. Once it is a public issue then listing becomes mandatory under Section 73 (1) of the Companies Act. Datar further said if an OFCD can indeed be defined as a Security, then under the Sebi Act, the Sebi has jurisdiction. "They can only come under Section 55 A, Clause B. If one goes by a literal interpretation of this provision, then that would be very absurd, and the appellant may argue that this does not cover them," Datar said