Three serving military officers in the case – army brigadiers Juvenalis Mtende, Marcel Chirwa and Cosgrove Mituka – were ordered back into the command of the Malawi Defence Force.
“Passports or other travel documents which are in police custody be restored to each applicant,” the court said.
The eight included retired army general Joseph Chimbayo and former police chief Joseph Aironi, who were arrested in May last year. All eight were freed on bail shortly after their arrests.
Laughable and fake
Muluzi has denied involvement in the plot against President Bingu wa Mutharika and has never been charged, although he has been questioned by police.
Muluzi, who ruled the southern African nation from 1994 to 2004, had been shown documents by police which linked him to the coup plot, but he denied any knowledge of the documents.
The former president said the documents were “laughable and fake”, saying they were fabricated and a ploy to intimidate and silence the opposition.
Mutharika, re-elected for a second term last month, had voiced fears of a plot to topple him.
Mutharika had been at loggerheads with his estranged mentor Muluzi, after he ditched the ex-leader’s former ruling party to form his own.