New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS): In a setback to the Congress, the Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a plea of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) challenging the Centre's October 30 direction asking the National Herald newspaper's publisher to vacate the Herald House within two weeks.

Justice Sunil Gaur had reserved his order on November 22.

The Urban Development Ministry had said the AJL's 56-year-old on Herald House had ended and asked it to vacate the premises by November 15.

The publisher had approached the High Court on November 12 challenging the Ministry's October 30 order.

The AJL told the court that it has been publishing the newspaper for decades. There was a temporary suspension due to financial trouble, but the newspaper and its digital media operations have now fully resumed.

The publication of the weekly "National Herald on Sunday" was resumed on September 24, 2017 and it is published from the Herald House. On October 14, the AJL also resumed its weekly Hindi newspaper.

The government reportedly inspected the premises a few months ago and found that the area allotted to AJL was not being used for the publication of the newspaper for the past 10 years, the court was told.