A Tokyo District Court ruling ordering Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara to pay about 464 million yen to relatives of victims of a sarin gas attack in Nagano Prefecture in 1994 became final Thursday after the appeals deadline passed Wednesday midnight with no challenges.

On July 25, the court ordered Asahara to pay the damages to eight relatives of four victims of the June 1994 attack in Matsumoto. The plaintiffs had filed the 545 million yen damages suit in August 1995.

The court acknowledged that considering evidence and testimony from former senior members of the cult, the attack was planned and organized under Asahara's instructions and carried out by his followers.

Seven people were killed and 144 injured in the gassing, which was perpetrated at around 10:40 p.m. on June 27, 1994.