Philadelphia, Feb. 14 - The United States district court has been asked to forbid establishment of a National Hockey league franchise in Philadelphia.

A suit, filed by Philadelphia Arena, Incorporated, which owns an inactive Philadelphia franchise in the American Hockey League, named Leonard A. Peto, President Mervyn Dutton and six directors of the National Hockey League as defendants. No hearing date has been set by Judge Welsh.

Peto recently announced he hoped to transfer the franchise of the defunct Montreal Maroons of the N.H.L. here. He asked the city zoning board for permission to erect a $2,500,000 indoor sports stadium at the former site of Baker bowl, for many years the home of Philadelphia Phillies of the National Baseball league.

"Although the defendants have full knowledge of the fact that we are members of the American Hockey league and an affiliation agreement is in effect between the National and American leagues providing territorial rights of each club, Peto has applied for a franchise to operate in Philadelphia," Morris Wolf, counsel for the arena, told the court.

Plan is Mammoth

Wolf said Peto "has stated he will obtain the franchise by action of the National Hockey league directors in New York Feb. 15."

Peto told the city zoning board that his proposed building would be the largest indoor sports stadium in the country. It would have seating capacity for 20,000 hockey spectators and for 25,000 fight fans.

The zoning board took his application under advisement.

N.H.L. directors named defendants in the injunction suit were Arthur H. Ross, Boston; William J. Tobin, Chicago; Senator Donat Raymond, Montreal; Brig. John Reid Kilpatrick, New York; James Norris, Detroit, and Conny Smythe, Toronto.