101 Ga. 94 | Ga. | 1897
It will be seen from the facts given above, that the defendant in error had filed in the superior court of Gwinnett county an equitable petition praying, among other things, that a suit then pending in the city court of Gwinnett county, brought by the plaintiffs in error against him, should be enjoined, and that the matters involved by the petition and pleas in said case be transferred to the superior court and there fully adjudicated. To this petition the plaintiffs in error filed a demurrer, on the ground that the superior court of Gwinnett county had no jurisdiction to try the case, the petition showing upon its face that the plaintiffs in error were residents of Fulton county and not of Gwinnett county. The error assigned here is that the judge below erred in overruling this demurrer.
To determine properly the question involved, it is necessary to construe section 4950 of the Civil Code in the light of the constitutional provision found in section 5874 of the Civil Code.. After providing in preceding sections for the venue of suits against joint obligors, makers and endorsers, proceedings for divorce, and cases involving titles to land, it is provided by the section just referred to that all other civil cases shall be tried in the county where the defendant resides. It is provided by section 4950, supra, that all petitions for equitable relief
The question is, did the superior court of Gwinnett county have jurisdiction to fully determine the case under the allegations and prayer of the petition ? It must be conceded that the city court of Gwinnett county, from its limited jurisdiction, could not fully adjudicate the case under the equities set up by the defendant. The section of the code cited authorizes proceedings for injunction to stay proceedings to be filed in the county where such proceedings are pending. We take it, this, can mean nothing else but that the proceedings may be filed in such a court in the county as has jurisdiction to hear and grant applications for injunctions, which of course is the superior court. If a city court did not have the power and jurisdiction to grant relief under a proper equitable plea, an equitable-proceeding in the superior court of the county where the action, is pending will be entertained in order that the entire controversy may be finally there adjudicated. National Bank of Athens v. Carlton, 96 Ga. 469. It is not intended to be held that defenses of an equitable nature may not be made in city courts but in every instance the evidence offered to sustain such defenses must be such as is admissible in a court of law and under legal rules. English & Co. v. Thorn, 96 Ga. 561. If we take all the allegations averred in the defendant’s plea to be true, it is manifest that a proper adjudication of the case can not be had except by a court having full equity jurisdiction. It is true-that some of the issues raised can be properly adjudicated in the city court; but under the defenses filed to a recovery of a judgment on the notes, an application of equitable rules and principles is involved, and under the statutory provisions to which we have referred, a bill for injunction against a suit at law brought by a non-resident plaintiff will be retained to grant, relief as to all matters involved in a proper settlement of the litigation pending at law. James v. Sams, 90 Ga. 404; Beall v. Rust, 68 Ga. 774. It may be said that there are collateral questions made by the pleas, and that the determination of
Judgment affirmed.