Malawi's contestant, Zein Dudah, became a media star

The show had been taken off the air after the country's parliament condemned it as "immoral".

But the court said parliament - which voted for the ban because of concerns about sexual content - went beyond its powers.

"The constitutional duty of parliament is to pass laws, not to make orders,"said lawyer Noel Chalamanda.

The programme - based on the original Big Brother reality TV series - first featured 12 contestants, each from a different African country, locked in the house in South Africa.

Interfere

Television Malawi will hold a board meeting to decide whether to put it back on air, said director general Benson Tembo.

Mr Tembo said he was happy that the court order asserted that nobody should interfere with editorial policy.

"The court has affirmed that only professionals at Television Malawi have the right to judge what should go on or off air," he said.

Taylor Nothale, chairman of the parliamentary committee on the media had said the show subjected viewers "to horrible pictures which are corrupting the morals of our children".