The Diet enacted a special law Friday exempting people with low incomes from returning the compensation they received for being poisoned by contaminated cooking oil from Kanemi Soko K.K.
The law exempts most of the 504 victims who have not yet repaid the government a combined 1.7 billion yen they received after a court decision ruled in their favor in a damages suit. They dropped the case when the government appealed to the high court, fearing the ruling would be overturned if it went on to the Supreme Court.
The lawmaker-initiated bill cleared the House of Councilors in a plenary session Friday morning. It cleared the House of Representatives unanimously a week ago after the ruling and opposition camps reached an agreement.