The case of land allocation with land use fee collection beyond authority in Tam Hop commune was reported by Nghe An Electronic Newspaper on September 22, 2022 through the article "Discovering 2 land allocation files beyond authority, Quy Hop district transferred to the investigation agency". Originating from the citizen's petition, in April 2022, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district established an Inspection Team to conduct a surprise inspection of land management and use in Tam Hop commune. Thereby, it was discovered that there were 2 cases living in Tam Hop area that were allocated land with land use fee collection beyond authority by the Commune People's Committee.
The first case is Mr. Vu Quang Hong (residing in Dinh hamlet, Tam Hop commune), who was assigned land by the People's Committee of Tam Hop commune without authority in 2005, plot number 129, map sheet number 75, area 138m22in Tan My hamlet. According to the current cadastral map, plot 129 belongs to irrigation land. The land allocation has a record dated April 28, 2005 between Tam Hop Commune People's Committee and Mr. Vu Quang Hong, with the content: "The Commune People's Committee transfers to Mr. Vu Quang Hong a plot of land with an area of 138m2in Tan My hamlet with the amount of 40,000,000 VND (forty million VND) to build a house". The land allocation minutes were signed and confirmed by the Chairman of the People's Committee, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee, accountant, land officer of the commune and the standing member of the People's Council of the commune. According to the verification of the Inspection Team, the People's Committee of Tam Hop commune and related people could not provide any other documents or papers related to the transfer and the collection, expenditure and use of the 40 million VND collected from the allocation of the above land plot.
The second case where the People's Committee of Tam Hop commune assigned land beyond its authority was Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc (residing in Dinh hamlet, Tam Hop commune); the time of assignment was in 2012 with land plot number 7, map sheet number 29 in Dinh hamlet, area 180m22. According to the current cadastral map, land plot No. 7 is unused flat land. The land allocation is shown in the Minutes of the expanded meeting of the People's Committee on April 10, 2012 (with the content of asking for opinions from the members of the People's Committee on selling the excess land plot after planning to adjacent households); Notice of the People's Committee of Tam Hop commune sent to Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc on payment for land purchase (signed by the Chairman of the People's Committee of Tam Hop commune); Receipt No. 97, dated July 26, 2012 with the amount of 20 million VND, the reason for payment is "Collection of contributions to local construction". At the time of the Inspection Team's verification, the People's Committee of Tam Hop commune could not provide documents proving that the amount of 20 million VND collected from Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc had been paid into the state budget, but only showed that it was entered into the internal spending fund in the "Cash fund receipt and expenditure diary" of the commune.
From the inspection results, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district concluded: "The People's Committee of Tam Hop commune has illegally allocated land with money collection for 2 cases (Mr. Vu Quang Hong, Dinh hamlet, Tam Hop commune in 2005 and Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc, Dinh hamlet, Tam Hop commune in 2012) in violation of the provisions of Clause 2, Article 37 of the 2003 Land Law. Responsibility for this violation belongs to the collective of the People's Committee of the commune, the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, the Standing Committee of the People's Council of the commune, the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee in charge, the commune accountant, and the commune cadastral office of the relevant periods".
According to observations by Nghe An Newspaper reporters in September 2022, the two plots of land No. 7 and 129 that the People's Committee of Tam Hop Commune in 2005 and 2012 assigned to Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc and Mr. Vu Quang Hong are both profitable plots of land. Specifically, plot No. 7 has an area of 180m22along National Highway 48A (about 70m from Dinh Bridge); plot of land number 129 has an area of 138m22along National Highway 48C (from Sang Le Intersection up to Quy Hop town about 1km). Therefore, we are interested in the next handling direction of Quy Hop district in this case.
According to the representative of the Inspection Team, based on the provisions of law, the District People's Committee issued Inspection Conclusion No. 21/KL-UBND dated September 14, 2022, in which it directed the Inspection Team to transfer the file to the District Police Investigation Agency to review signs of violations of criminal law according to its authority. Regarding the next steps, the District People's Committee will wait for the conclusion of the Investigation Police Agency. The representative also discussed that in this case, the Inspection Team found that there were issues that could not be verified administratively, and there were signs of criminal violations. Specifically, the People's Committee of Tam Hop commune and related individuals showed signs of abuse of power, in addition to not being able to prove the payment to the budget of the amounts collected from Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc and Mr. Vu Quang Hong.
However, in March this year, the Investigation Police Agency of Quy Hop District Police sent a notice to the Inspectorate of Quy Hop District and the People's Committee of Tam Hop Commune stating that they would not prosecute the criminal case. Specifically, after verifying the source of information about the crime transferred by the Inspectorate of Quy Hop District regarding the People's Committee of Tam Hop Commune, Quy Hop District, illegally allocating land to 2 households, based on Article 158 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Investigation Police Agency of Quy Hop District Police issued a decision not to prosecute the criminal case, for the following reasons:
“Regarding the land plot that Mr. Nguyen Xuan Ngu, Chairman of Tam Hop Commune People's Committee, assigned to Mr. Vu Quang Hong in 2005, the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution has now expired.
Regarding the land plot that Mr. Nguyen Xuan Ngu, Chairman of the People's Committee of Tam Hop Commune, assigned to Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc in 2012, which was determined at that time to be agricultural land, according to the District Valuation Council, it had a value of approximately 3 million VND. Therefore, the value of the damage is not enough to constitute the crime of "Abuse of power while performing official duties" as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 357, Penal Code 2015".
It is known that recently, on September 14, 2023, based on the announcement of the Investigation Police Agency, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district issued Official Dispatch No. 1141/UBND-TTR directing the handling of issues related to the unauthorized land allocation clarified by the inspection in September 2022 in Tam Hop commune. Accordingly, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district assigned:
“The Department of Home Affairs advises the Chairman of the District People's Committee to review and handle responsibilities for organizations and individuals under the management authority of the Chairman of the District People's Committee and guides agencies and units to review and handle responsibilities for organizations and individuals involved in land allocation beyond their authority as indicated in Inspection Conclusion No. 21/KL-UBND dated September 14, 2022 of the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment presides over and coordinates with the People's Committee of Tam Hop commune to advise the District People's Committee to recover land plot No. 129, Map Sheet No. 75 located in Tan My hamlet, Tam Hop commune (belonging to irrigation land, survey map in 2015) that the People's Committee of Tam Hop commune illegally transferred to Mr. Vu Quang Hong in 2005 to hand over to the locality for management according to regulations.
As for land plot No. 7, map sheet No. 29 with address at Dinh hamlet, which Tam Hop Commune People's Committee in 2012 illegally allocated land to Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc, the District People's Committee assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to preside over and coordinate with Tam Hop Commune People's Committee to review. If it meets the requirements prescribed by the Land Law, Decree 43/2014/ND-CP dated May 15, 2014 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Land Law and other relevant documents, then guide the procedures for granting a Certificate of Land Use Rights; in case the conditions for granting a Certificate of Land Use Rights are not met, advise the Chairman of the District People's Committee on handling measures in accordance with the provisions of law!
