The Supreme Court has held that re-counting of votes cannot be ordered on mere bald allegations of a defeated candidate as it would otherwise affect the sanctity of the election process. A bench of Justices D K Jain and Aftab Alam said even if there is a slender difference of four votes, re-counting can be ordered only if there is sufficient material evidence from the aggrieved candidate to prove that the winning candidate had won by unfair means. The apex court made the remarks while upholding the appeal of Udey Chand who was elected sarpanch of the Bas Badshahpur in Haryana's Hissar district by a margin of four votes over his nearest rival Surat Singh in 2005. However, the election tribunal ordered re-counting of votes on a petition filed by Surat Singh. <br/>