Goldman Sachs CEO, Lloyd Blankfein may be asked to testify in the SEC insider-trading case against Rajat Gupta, a former director of the Wall Street bank, a judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff identified Blankfein and six others, including some former Galleon traders, as people who could be interviewed under oath in the SEC case. The written order was dated Tuesday. The SEC has accused Rajat Gupta, a former board member at Goldman and Procter & Gamble, of giving inside tips about the two companies to his friend Raj Rajaratnam in 2008 and 2009.  Gupta's lawyer, Gary Naftalis, had told the judge he wanted to depose Blankfein and other Goldman executives. Gupta denies the charges in the SEC's civil lawsuit. He also is contesting criminal insider-trading charges brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan. The judge has scheduled start dates of April 9 for Gupta's criminal trial and Oct. 1 for the civil trial. Rajaratnam is also a defendant in the SEC case against Gupta. Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund, was convicted of 11 criminal counts in May. Blankfein testified for the prosecution at that trial. Goldman Sachs spokesman David Wells declined to comment.  [Reuters 11/30/11]