Oh! Calcutta co-owner to plead guilty of health act violations

Crown expected to reduce charges

A week after going to jail for failing to show up for his trial, the second co-owner of a company that operated a southwest restaurant that was closed because of filthy conditions has agreed to plead guilty to Public Health Act charges.

Prosecutor Rob O’neill advised the judge on Monday that Salauddin Choudhury had accepted a plea bargain after speaking to his lawyer.

Defence lawyer Rob Bagga arrived at court nearly a half-hour after O’neill began his opening statement, believing he was to assist Choudhury to get bail, but after speaking to his client, Bagga returned and advised court of the change in pleas.

O’neill told Judge George Gaschler that he would present an offer in court today, outlining the charges for which he would seek guilty pleas and how much he would be seeking in fines.

It is expected he will ask for pleas on considerably fewer charges and will seek considerably less in fines than handed to Ehsan Ali, co-owner of Oh! Calcutta, which operated the Wicked Chili restaurant, 507 17th Ave. S.W.

Last week, provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux imposed $64,722 in penalties for 54 infractions under the Public Health Act, refusing to lower the amount as Ali had not provided any documentation to support his claim of poverty.

Lamoureux called “deplorable” the living conditions in two suites above the restaurant and in the basement that caused the restaurant to be closed and suites to be declared unfit for human inhabitation.

Court heard last week that floors in parts of the building had 15 to 20 centimetres of grease and raw sewage from a sewer backup, and an old door was being used as a bridge to walk across the sewage to reach a room where beds were set up for three people to sleep.

There were also smoke-detector violations, and an outside stairway to the two upstairs suites had steps that were rotten and rickety with grass growing out of the boards. There was mould growing in cupboards, bedrooms and a bathtub, significant water damage from a leaky ceiling, and windows were too small for proper egress in case of emergency.

Ali also disregarded orders issued by the Health Department to not allow anyone to live there or in the basement, which also housed restaurant equipment.

O’neill said the lease to Oh! Calcutta made it clear that the premises were only to be used for commercial purposes, not residential, after inspections in the fall of 2010 uncovered most of the infractions.

Still, he said, both upstairs units and the basement were found occupied on March 21, 2011, with no explanation by Ali.