Opinion
22082-21W
03-10-2022
Navdeep S. Dhaliwal Petitioner v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Respondent
ORDER
Maurice B. Foley, Chief Judge
On December 10, 2021, petitioner filed a letter dated December 10, 2021. In that letter, petitioner failed to comply with Rule 345(b) and the Court's Order served October 1, 2021, with respect to refraining from including in his filing identifying information concerning the target taxpayer in this case.
On February 15, 2022, respondent filed a motion for entry of order that undenied allegations be deemed admitted pursuant to Rule 37(c). On March 9, 2022, petitioner filed a document titled "reply to answer". That document does not comply with the form and content of a proper reply to answer. See Rule 37(b), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. Petitioner also failed to comply with Rule 345(b) and the Court's Order served October 1, 2021, with respect to refraining from including in his filing identifying information concerning the target taxpayer in this case.
Furthermore, by opinion issued January 11, 2022, in the case of Li v. Commissioner, 22 F.4th 1014 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 11, 2022), the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that the Tax Court lacks jurisdiction of whistleblower cases involving threshold rejections of claims for whistleblower award. That ruling is not yet final. More recently, the court of appeals has been asked to consider whether this Court also lacks jurisdiction in cases involving denials of claims for whistleblower award where no proceeds have been collected based on the whistleblower's information. See Kennedy v. Commissioner, No. 211133 (D.C. Cir.).
In view of the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that petitioner's letter, filed December 10, 2021, is sealed. It is further
ORDERED that petitioner's reply to answer, filed March 9, 2022, is stricken from the Court's record in this case and is sealed. It is further
ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall remove petitioner's letter, filed December 10, 2021, and petitioner's reply to answer, filed March 9, 2022, from the Court's public record and those documents shall be retained by the Court in a sealed file which shall not be inspected by any person or entity except by an Order of the Court. It is further
ORDERED that the proceedings in this case are stayed. It is further
ORDERED that, although these proceedings are stayed, on or before September 9, 2022, the parties shall file status reports and (preferably a joint report) concerning the then-current status of this case and the above-referenced cases of Li v. Commissioner and Kennedy v. Commissioner.