Olyphant Sewage-Drainage Co. v. Borough of Olyphant
Olyphant Sewage-Drainage Co. v. Borough of Olyphant
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Tested by the settled rule of our eases the conclusion reached by the learned judge of the common pleas is right for the reasons stated by him. We have uniformly held that the validity of a charter for a public purpose cannot be determined in a collateral proceeding by a private suitor. It can be done only in a direct proceeding to which the commonwealth is a party. Among the more recent cases on the subject are Hinchman v. Philadelphia and West Chester Turnpike Road Co., 160 Pa. 150, and The Downingtown Gas and Water Co. v. Borough of Downingtown, 193 Pa. 255. Whether a right or franchise claimed by a corporation is conferred by its charter may be inquired into in a proceeding at law or in equity by a party injured, as provided by the Act of June 19, 1871, P. L. 1361; but whether for any reason the charter of a corporation was originally invalid or has been forfeited is a question which the commonwealth only can raise.
The decree is affirmed at the cost of the appellants.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Olyphant Sewage-Drainage Company v. Borough of Olyphant
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- 9 cases
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- Syllabus
- Corporations — Forfeiture—Collateral attack upon charter — Drainage company. The validity of a charter for public purposes cannot be determined in a collateral proceeding by a private suitor; it can be done .only in a direct proceeding to which the commonwealth is a party. Whether a right or franchise claimed by a corporation is conferred by its charter may be inquired into in a proceeding at law or in equity by a party injured, as provided by the Act of June 19, 1871, P. L, 1361; but whether for any reason the charter of a corporation was originally invalid or has been forfeited is a question which the commonwealth alone can raise. The question whether a drainage company organized under the Act of June 10, 1893, P. L. 436, has forfeited its franchises for failure to complete its works within the time prescribed by the Act of May 16, 1889, P. L. 242, sec. 11, cannot be raised in a suit in equity by the drainage company against a borough to enjoin the latter from preventing the company’s employees from continuing their work.