New Delhi: Controversial godman Chandraswami today (Dec 19, 2004) questioned CBI and incarcerated gangster Babloo Shrivastava's attempts to link him to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and accused the media of carrying "motivated and unsubstantiated" reports against him.

Chandraswami's advocate Santosh Kumar Chauriha, in a statement, said the Godman had attended every court proceeding for the last nine years either himself or through his counsel which proved his "utmost faith in judiciary and regards for the rule of the law."

CBI had recently move an application opposing Chandraswamy's plea seeking permission to go abroad claiming it had "lots of evidence" against him in the Gandhi assassination case.

Referring to the plea filed in a city court, Chandraswami's counsel said "ultimately it is for the court to decide the case on merits and the version of the investigating agency carries no more weight than that of the issue."

He said how anybody could comment on documents if these had been shown by the CBI in-camera. The news reports were being carried on the basis of a "statement of Ramesh Dalal, whose antecedent is suspicious and the statement of Babloo Shrivastava who is behind the bars on the charges of heinous crime like murder, he added.

"The motivated and unsubstantiated reporting has the potential of eroding the credibility of the fourth estate which is an important pillar of our democratic system," he said.