Zhu Lifeng, of Yuyao in east China's Zhejiang Province, has become the first person to get a favorable court verdict in a case against the local government over enforced property demolition, reported Xinhua Monday.

The recent victory of the 40-year-old farmer against the local government has been hailed as a landmark ruling which prompted the administration to follow the law to the letter and in spirit.

"Though I'm just a farmer I know about the country's laws," Zhu said. "And I've taken recourse to law to safeguard my rights."

Zhu built six, 200-square-meter houses on farmland around his house in 1997 and rented them to pay his mother's medical bills. But like others in the village he didn't apply to local government for approval.

Two years later they declared all six houses as illegal and fined Zhu 1,800 yuan (US$225). "I took it for granted that after paying the fine the six houses had obtained legal status," Zhu said.

But in 2005 the municipal government planned to build Lanshu Bridge and Lanshu Park. These projects required large plots of land and Zhu's houses were in the way. The government promised to compensate Zhu for his loss. But they couldn't agree on the amount.

"My houses were for commercial use," Zhu said. "But the government insisted on paying me compensation for rural houses that was much less than the actual loss I would suffer."

Zhu refused to sell. The government sent him a notice stating the houses were illegal and had to be demolished. The homes were pulled down a week later along with other properties. 

The loss of his properties and income source forced him to file a case against the government. What tilted the case in his favor, he said, was the evidence he collected that the local government had approved the use of his land before the demolition. That was a violation of the land approval procedure.

In December last year the Ningbo Intermediate People's Court agreed that the Yuyao government had violated the law by demolishing the houses. "This is the first time that a resident has won a lawsuit against the government," said Zhu's lawyer, Yuan Yulai.

And Xinhua quoted a legal expert as having said, "First, the government doesn't have the right to pull down illegal constructions. And second, the government should act in line with legislation. Illegal administrative procedures are the main cause for disputes in relocation cases."

(China Daily January 31, 2007)