People ex rel. Van Loben Sels v. Reclamation District No. 551

This is an action of quo warranto, in which the only defendant is the corporation whose right to be a corporation is called in question. Whether such an action can be maintained is questionable (People v. Stanford, 77 Cal. 360 ), but as no objection is made for lack of the proper parties, and the question is of public interest, we will not raise the question ourselves.

The defendant claims to be a reclamation district organized under the provisions of the Political Code. It does not claim to have been organized under section 3481 of that code, but by presenting to the board of supervisors the petition required by section 3446 and by a compliance with the provisions applicable to the conditions shown in such a petition. The relator contends that the lands included within the defendant district were, at the time of its alleged organization, included within another valid and subsisting reclamation district, and, since the provisions of the code applicable to an organization which includes lands already within a reclamation district were not followed, defendant was not legally organized.

It is averred in the complaint that the lands included in the defendant reclamation district…