( 1 ) 1. The short question that arises in this Writ Petition is whether the Board of Revenue which is an appellate Authority under Rule 61 of the andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Village Offices Service Rules, 1969 is competent co go into the merles of the appeal preferred by an aggrieved party when the appeal is preferred against an order of remand made by the first appellate Authority viz. the Collector.

( 2 ) ). The petitioner and the 4th respondent were among the five applicants for the post of Village Karnam of Bhanumukkala village of Nandikotur taluk, Kurnool District. The petitioner had earlier worked as a Village munsif in the same village. The 4th respondent was working as Branch postmaster of the village at the time of selection of a suitable candidate to fill up the office of the Village Karnam. The Revenue Divisional Officer, kurnool selected the petitioner having regard to his past experience as village Officer and appointed him as the Karnam of the Village. Aggrieved by that order, the 4th respondent preferred an appeal to the Collector, kurnool under Rule 61 of the Rules and the Collector went into the qualifications and the relative merits of the compe