226 Pa. 131 | Pa. | 1910
Opinion by
This bill was filed to restrain the appellee railroad company, incorporated under the act of 1868, from taking lands of appellant under condemnation proceedings, because, as alleged, the right of eminent domain sought to be exercised was not for a public use, but for a purely private purpose. The right to thus proceed in equity is claimed under the act of 1871 and the authority of McCandless’s App., 70 Pa. 210; Edgewood Railroad Company’s App., 79 Pa. 257; Mory v. Railroad Company, 199 Pa. 152, and Deemer v. Bells Run Railroad Company, 212 Pa. 491. It is true equity jurisdiction was sustained in these cases for the general purpose stated, but solely upon the ground that the corporations in question, while possessing under their charter powers 'the right to appropriate lands for public uses, in point of fact were undertaking to condemn land for private purposes. The cases cited have gone this far and no farther. The charter powers of a corporation cannot be attacked in this manner, but must be inquired into in a proper proceeding to which the commonwealth is a party.
Decree affirmed at the cost of appellant.