On 18 November 1987 respondent FIRMWOOD filed with the Regional Trial Court of Davao City a complaint for delivery of personal property and damages as well as attorney's fees, docketed as Civil Case No. 18841-87, against herein petitioners Ray U. Velasco, ex-officio sheriff of the Regional Trial Court of Davao City, Joseymour Ecobiza, Deputy Sheriff of Davao City, Wilhelm Barlis, former Commanding Officer of the 439th Infantry Battalion in Toril, Davao City, and Atty. Bernabe Alabastro, counsel for plaintiffs Naty Dy and Sencio Dy in Civil Case No. 18567-87. FIRMWOOD alleged in its complaint that since it owned the eleven (11) crates of plywood seized by petitioners it had the right to the possession thereof or to the payment of the value of the plywood seized in case delivery could not be made. It also prayed for reimbursement of its expenses of P5,000.00, P50,000.00 for temperate damages, another P50,000.00 for exemplary damages and still another P50,000.00 for attorney's fees.

On 11 January 1988 this Court set aside the temporary restraining order it issued on 4 September 1987 in G.R. No. 79586.

On 28 February 1988 petitioners filed their answer with counterclaim in Civil Case No. 18841-87 alleging that respondent FIRMWOOD was not the owner of the eleven (11) crates of plywood they seized but respondent STA. CLARA, hence, FIRMWOOD was not entitled to the recovery thereof. Petitioners contended that they had the authority to seize the crates of plywood and put them under custodia legis by virtue of the temporary restraining order issued by this Court on 4 September 1987 in G.R. No. 79586.1âwphi1.nêt

Petitioners also filed their answer to the complaint in intervention denying ownership of respondent FIRMWOOD over the crates of plywood and asserting STA. CLARA's ownership thereof.

On 30 August 1988 respondent FIRMWOOD filed a Motion for Summary Judgment alleging that aside from the amount of damages due it there was no genuine issue as to any material fact of the case, STA. CLARA having confirmed FIRMWOOD's ownership over the eleven (11) crates of plywood. On 12 September 1988 respondent STA. CLARA also filed a Motion for Summary Judgment alleging the same grounds raised by FIRMWOOD and further contending that petitioners did not have the authority to hold the property in custodia legis.

On 7 February 1989 the trial court issued another order directing petitioners to pay the amounts incurred by respondent FIRMWOOD in filing the complaint, i.e., P390.00 for filing fee, another P390.00 for the Judiciary Development Fund, P25.00 for sheriff's fee, plus attorney's fees of P20,000.00 for respondent FIRMWOOD and P30,000.00 for respondent STA. CLARA.

Petitioners appealed the two (2) orders of the trial court to the Court of Appeals which however dismissed the appeal and affirmed the questioned orders. The appellate court held that the pleadings, annexes and affidavits of private respondents in support of their respective motions for summary judgment were sufficient to overcome petitioners' opposition and to justify the finding that there was no legitimate defense to the action. It also held that the Court's resolution of 11 January 1988 lifting the temporary restraining order issued in G.R. No. 79586 had mooted whatever claim petitioners had over the seized property. The Court of Appeals also sustained the award of damages by the trial court to respondent FIRMWOOD whose property was wrongfully attached or seized under Rule 60, Sec. 7, of the Rules of Court, as amended.

Petitioners now allege before us that the Court of Appeals erred in the appreciation of the facts of the case and in deciding the legal questions contrary to law and jurisprudence. In support thereof petitioners assert that respondent FIRMWOOD is not the true and lawful owner of the eleven (11) crates of plywood; hence its representations in its complaint for delivery of personal property before the trial court were false and made in bad faith. Petitioners also contend that the crates of plywood seized by petitioner Deputy Sheriff Joseymour Ecobiza pursuant to the temporary restraining order of this Court in G.R. No. 79586 were still in custodia legis and could not be the subject of an action for replevin; and, that the temporary restraining order issued by this Court was lifted only on 13 January 1988 or long after the complaint for replevin was instituted on 11 November 1987. Petitioners further contend that their admission that the owner of the plywood at that time was respondent STA. CLARA cannot be the basis for summary judgment because there are triable issues that need to be resolved, namely: (a) whether the seizure of the plywood by petitioner Ecobiza by virtue of this Court's temporary restraining order was lawful; (b) whether the subject plywood can be replevied even if it were in custodia legis; and, (c) whether respondent FIRMWOOD has any cause of action against petitioners.

The crux of the controversy is whether the summary judgment rendered by the trial court in favor of private respondents was proper and, consequently, whether the award of damages to private respondents was correct.

The remaining issue raised by petitioners in objecting to the reliefs prayed for in the complaints of private respondents is whether petitioners possessed the authority to seize and hold under their custody the crates of plywood by virtue of the temporary restraining order of this Court which undisputedly had been lifted and of no more force and effect. 10There is therefore absent in this case any genuine issue of fact but a question purely of law. It has been held that even the existence of an important or complicated question of law where there is no issue as to the facts is not a bar to a summary judgment. 11

The trial court as well as the Court of Appeals found as undisputably settled based on the records that the right of possession of the eleven (11) crates of plywood belonged to respondents STA. CLARA and/or FIRMWOOD and the only disagreement of the parties was that the property could not be disposed of by respondent STA. CLARA because of the temporary restraining order issued by this Court on 4 September 1987 which allegedly gave authority to petitioner Deputy Sheriff Ecobiza to seize the crates of plywood necessary to protect the outcome of Civil Case No. 18567-87. In rendering summary judgment in favor of private respondents in the replevin case, the trial court found them to be entitled to the possession of the subject property wrongfully detained by petitioners as the temporary restraining order from which they derived their authority to seize the property had already been lifted and set aside.

Petitioners allege that during the time they effected the seizure of the plywood they had the authority to do so as they were implementing the temporary restraining order which was then in full force and effect.

This contention has no merit. It is a basic procedural postulate that a preliminary injunction which necessarily includes a temporary restraining order should never be used to transfer the possession or control of a thing to a party who did not have such possession or control at the inception of the case. 12The temporary restraining order issued by this Court on 4 September 1987 merely restrained respondent STA. CLARA and all its agents and representatives from withdrawing and disposing of the plywood inventory in STA. CLARA's plant or warehouse until further orders from this Court. 13The order did not contain any directive whatsoever to any of the petitioners to seize property belonging to STA. CLARA or to keep the property seized in their possession. The petitioners, by what they did, took the law into their own hands without any specific order from this Court; hence, the seizure made by them on 26 October 1987 was void and illegal even if the intention of petitioners was to prevent the alleged violation of the temporary restraining order. Any violation of the injunction or temporary restraining order which is in full force or effect constitutes contempt of court and is punishable as such, and the remedy of the aggrieved party is to institute contempt proceedings where the court in appropriate cases may punish the violator for the purpose of preserving and enforcing the rights of the persons for whose protection the injunction or restraining order was granted. Clearly, with the subsequent lifting of the temporary restraining order the subject crates of plywood seized by petitioners devoid of legal authority were never placed at any time under custodia legis that would prevent private respondents from recovering their possession over the same. The amount of damages directed by the trial court to be paid to private respondents by petitioners arising from the wrongful taking of the property is a factual matter binding and conclusive upon this Court.

WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED. The Decision of the Court of Appeals of 31 January 1995 affirming the orders of the trial court is AFFIRMED. Petitioners are directed to deliver the possession of the eleven (11) crates of plywood to private respondents, or in case of loss or inability to restore possession thereof as required, to pay private respondents the declared value thereof in the amount of P140,000.00, and to pay private respondent Firmwood Development Corporation (FIRMWOOD) attorney's fees of P20,000.00 plus P805.00 for filing fee, Judiciary Development Fund and sheriff's fee, and also to respondent Sta. Clara Housing Industries, Inc. (STA. CLARA) attorney's fees of P30,000.00 as fixed by the trial court. Costs against petitioners.1âwphi1.nêt

SO ORDERED.

Mendoza, Quisumbing, Buena and De Leon, Jr., JJ., concur.

Footnotes