98 So. 462 | Ala. | 1923
This cause has been before the court before, wherein the equity of the bill was settled and upheld (
The trial court not only found that the contract was not induced by fraud but that the respondent owned the land free from a constructive trust, and that said contract had been breached by the complainants and not the respondent, and, in effect, found *472
that respondent was not due the complainant anything; and, this being the case, there was no legal right shown which authorized the transfer of the cause to the law docket as provided by Acts of 1915, p. 830. We fail to discover the applicability of the case of Wilbourne v. Mann,
The bill contained equity, and the chancery court, having assumed jurisdiction, does not act by piecemeal, but has the power and authority to adjust the rights and fix the status of the respective parties. Having found that respondent was the real owner of the land, and that complainants had breached the contract under which they had entered, and that their possessory right had terminated, the court had the right to restore the respondent's possession without the necessity of a cross-bill. Indeed, the court, on former appeal, stated that there was no necessity for the respondent's cross-bill. This is, of course, a different sort of case from a bill to quiet title under the statute by one in peaceable possession, and where the respondent seeks affirmative relief.
The decree of the circuit court is affirmed.
Affirmed.
SAYRE, GARDNER, and MILLER, JJ., concur.