Court rules district govt responsible for illegal demolition of houses

An intermediate people’s court confirmed a district government in Xi’an, Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, illegally demolished private houses.

Eight villagers brought suit against the government of Baqiao district after their houses were torn down.

A villager surnamed Guo’s house in Hongxing village of Baqiao district was demolished together with other four houses by a group of unidentified people on July 2.

In March of 2017, a notice from the Baqiao district government put Guo’s house in the scope of a land requisition. However, Guo refused to sign the indemnification agreement because of unacceptable subsidies.

On August 31, another house was bulldozed.

The villagers sued the Baqiao district government and the Hongqi sub-district office.

The government argued in the court that the villagers’ houses were dilapidated buildings and they were torn down to eliminate safety hazards.

The sub-district office claimed that they had Guo’s house assessed and the demolishment caused no property loss for the plaintiff.

The court believes that the Hongqi sub-district office overstepped its authority and operated using an illegal procedure.

According to regulations, house safety assessment should be carried out under the authorization of the house owner when the house is subject to safety hazard. Therefore the court denied the legitimacy of the report submitted by the sub-district office.

According to regulations, house demolishing in a land requisition should be applied by administrative bodies and approved by the People’s Court after compensation and resettlement is completed.