Japan's Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that found former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company not guilty of professional negligence resulting in death and injury following the nuclear meltdown accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011.



The decision has effectively acquitted two of the former executives. The charges against ex-chairman Katsumata Tsunehisa were dropped following his death in October last year.



Former TEPCO vice presidents, Takekuro Ichiro and Muto Sakae, along with Katsumata, were accused of being responsible for the deaths of 44 hospital patients and others in Fukushima who had been forced to evacuate following the nuclear accident.



They stood trial following a decision by a prosecution inquest panel made up of randomly selected citizens.



The main point of contention throughout the trial was the credibility of a long-term earthquake projection released by a government agency nine years before the powerful earthquake hit Fukushima in 2011, triggering tsunami that inundated the power plant.



A district court and an appeals court both raised doubts about the credibility of the projection. They stated that it would have been impossible for the power company executives to predict that tsunami over 10 meters high would hit the Fukushima plant.



Both courts found the former executives not guilty. Court-appointed lawyers acting as prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court.



The Second Petty Bench of the Supreme Court has unanimously rejected the appeal.



Presiding Justice Okamura Kazumi pointed out that the long-term projection released in 2002 did not have much credibility among government agencies at the time, and was not widely used by them or local governments.



The justice concluded that it would have been impossible for the power company executives to predict the towering tsunami based on that long-term projection.



A man who observed the trial of former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company has commented on the court ruling.



Kanno Masakatsu called the ruling an unexpected and regrettable outcome.



The 80-year-old said that stating that the former executives would have been unable to predict the huge tsunami was an outrageous excuse.



Kanno's father was forced to endure a long-term evacuation, and died at the age of 99, three months after the nuclear disaster occurred. His passing was recognized as a disaster-related death.



Kanno said his feeling of powerlessness is so great that he cannot bring himself to report the ruling to the spirit of his father.



TEPCO said it would like to once again offer an apology to the people of Fukushima Prefecture, and others, for causing inconvenience and concern.



TEPCO also said it will refrain from commenting on any matter regarding the criminal litigation.