India, Feb. 27 -- An altercation erupted in the first BEST committee meeting on Thursday before the committee passed its first proposal-to pay around Rs.40 lakh to seven victims of accidents involving BEST buses. The opposition contested this, saying that the amount exceeded what the victims had demanded in the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal. However, the committee pointed out that the victims' families had demanded Rs.83 lakh while they were paying half that amount.

The meeting was held at Electric House, the headquarters of the BEST Undertaking. Apart from the tribute paid to the late Ajit Pawar, the 20-odd-minute meeting saw discussions on just one issue: that of paying compensation to victims involved in BEST accidents.

The compensa...