Drum v. Dinkelacker
Drum v. Dinkelacker
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
On May 10,1916, plaintiffs filed a bill in equity complaining that the defendant had erected a garage upon and thereby closed up an alley which belonged to them and was appurtenant to their other property, and had
Upon the filing of the bill, the court below granted a preliminary injunction against further encroachment and obstruction, plaintiffs entering a bond with one surety. On May 15, 1916, defendant moved to dissolve the injunction, which motion was dismissed. On June 6, 1916, he filed his answer. In it he averred that the garage was on his property, and not on plaintiffs’; that plaintiffs had an adequate remedy at law; and asked, as he had also done on the motion to dissolve, that that question be decided in limine as provided by the Act of June 7, 1907, P. L. 440.
On March 4, 1918, á replication was filed nunc pro tunc as of some unstated date. On May 7, 1918, defendant again moved to dissolve the injunction, a hearing was had, and the motion dismissed. In addition the court entered a decree requiring the defendant, within thirty days from the date thereof, to remove the garage, to restore the alley to its original condition, and to pay the costs of the case. Pending the hearing a new bond with, two sureties was allowed, approved and filed. On June 10, 1918, defendant prosecuted this appeal from said orders and decrees.
The record fails to disclose that the court below was asked, either at the hearing, or at any other time, to certify the case to the law side of the court, or that the case was ever put down for a decision of that question in limine.
The first and seventh assignments allege error in granting the preliminary injunction of May 15, 1916, and in refusing to dissolve it. It is too late to raise those questions now. The order was over two years old when this appeal was taken, and six months is the limit of time for appealing: Section 4 of the Act of May 19, 1897, P. L. 67.
The fourth assignment alleges error in not certifying the case to the law side of the court. But the court was never moved to so certify it, and if it had been, and had refused the motion, the decision would have been interlocutory and not the subject of an appeal.
The sixth assignment alleges error in refusing to dissolve the injunction because but one surety was given on the bond, and, also because the plaintiffs made no effort, during a period of over two years, to bring the case to a final hearing. This assignment is double and under Buie 26 is “a waiver of all the errors so alleged.” Moreover, neither allegation furnishes a just ground of complaint. As to the first thereof it is enough to say that the court allowed a new bond to be filed with two sureties, and no exception was taken to that allowance; nor if taken would it have been efficacious. As to the second thereof, the failure to bring the case to a final hearing was as much defendant’s fault as it was plaintiffs’, and the effect of the delay, so far as defendant is concerned, is to deprive him of the right to complain. The purpose of the Acts of 1866 and 1879, above referred to, was to afford prompt relief to parties needing it, and an intentional delay on their part, beyond the time when they could have had a final decree, shows that in their own judgment, they did not need prompt relief: Gyger’s App., 15 W. N. C. 513; Sheaffer’s App., 100 Pa. 379.
The third and fifth assignments must, however, be sustained. They allege error in the decree of May 27,1918,
It follows from the foregoing that the preliminary injunction as originally granted, cannot now be disturbed by us, but that the decree of May 27, 1918, must be reversed and set aside, and the record remitted for further proceedings according to law. The costs of the appeal will abide the event of the suit. It is accordingly so ordered.
Reference
- Cited By
- 20 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Equity — Equity practice — Certification to law side — Injunction —Bonds—Mandatory preliminary injunction — Final decree — Appeals — Practice, Supreme Court — Assignment of error — Publicity —Act of June 7, 1907, P. L. MO. 1. No act of assembly allows an appeal from a refusal to dissolve a preliminary injunction. 2. On an appeal from the granting of a preliminary injunction, the court will not consider the question as to whether or not the case should have been certified to the law side of the court, under the Act of June 7, 1907, P. L. 440, if the court below was not moved to certify it thereto. 3. Such an application, even if made, would be interlocutory, and not the subject of an appeal until after final decree. 4. A complaint that an injunction bond contains but one surety, will not be considered, where, without objection, a new bond with two sureties has been substituted. 5. An appeal from the granting of a preliminary injunction must be promptly made. Ordinarily it will be dismissed, as of course, if delayed beyond the time when the case might have been decided on final hearing. 6. It is only in extreme eases that a mandatory preliminary injunction is proper. 1. On a motion to dissolve a preliminary injunction, unaccompanied by a motion to extend it, the court can only dissolve or refuse to dissolve it, or modify it by making it less stringent. 8. That which is in effect a final decree cannot be entered on a preliminary hearing, except with consent of the parties. 9. An assignment alleging error in refusing to dissolve an injunction because but one surety was given on the bond and also because of delay in final hearing, is bad for duplicity.