Harris v. Independence Gas Co.

Citations

• 76 Kan. 750
• 92 P. 1123
• 1907 Kan. LEXIS 321

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Corporations — Ultra Vires Contracts — Collateral Inquiry. The question of the character of business a corporation is authorized to engage in is ordinarily a matter between it and the state, not open to collateral inquiry; and one who has entered into a contract with a corporation which is otherwise unobjectionable cannot maintain a suit for its cancelation upon the ground that it relates to a transaction foreign to any purpose mentioned in the company’s charter.</p> <p>2. - Oil-and-gas Lease — Suit to Cancel — Estoppel to Deny Corporate Capacity. One who has executed to a corporation an oil-and-gas lease — an instrument granting the right to explore a tract of land for oil and gas and to appropriate either if found — cannot maintain a suit to cancel the portion thereof relating to oil on the ground that the only purpose of the company’s existence mentioned in its charter is “to dig or miñe for natural gas and sell the same for heat and lighting purposes.”</p>