Karnataka Lokayukta police are in the last stages of finalising the translation of chargesheets against two National Democratic Alliance leaders — Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy and BJP MLA G. Janardhan Reddy — into English.

Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot requested that the chargesheets be translated into English from Kannada on August 28, 2024, and returned the files. Sources said the translated documents will soon be submitted to the Governor. 

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), Lokayukta Police, probing illegal mining cases, had requested permission to chargesheet Mr Kumaraswamy in a case pertaining to the grant of a mining lease in violation of norms in November 2023. Lokayukta Police had requested permission to chargesheet Mr. Reddy in May 2024. 

Mr. Gehlot sanctioned the prosecution of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the alleged MUDA scam on August 17, 2024. Following this, the Cabinet on August 23, 2024, advised the Governor to sanction the prosecution of Mr. Kumaraswamy, Mr. Reddy, and former BJP Ministers Murugesh Nirani and Shashikala Jolle. Governor returned the files pertaining to Mr. Kumaraswamy and Mr. Reddy seeking an English translation of all related documents on August 28, 2024, a first in the State, sources in the investigative agencies said. He rejected sanction for prosecution against Ms. Jolle and sought a clarification in Mr. Nirani’s case. 

“Chargesheets and all related documents in Mr. Kumaraswamy and Mr. Reddy’s cases runs into several thousand pages and it took months to translate them into English. The translation is ready and is being checked for its quality and some mistakes are being corrected, before submitting it to the Governor,” a senior functionary said.