Prosecutors are asking a judge to press forward on a trial for Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam and his co-defendant Danielle Chiesi, saying the pair will have “an unfair strategic advantage” if there’s a delay.

Rajaratnam and Chiesi are facing criminal charges for insider trading as well as civil charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Federal prosecutors are eager to get the show on the road ahead of the SEC case, which is scheduled for August, and want their trial to start in June or July.

“This court should reject their requests for delay,” they said in a filing to Manhattan District Judge Richard Holwell yesterday. Defense requests for a later date “are part of a broader strategic effort to try the parallel SEC action before this criminal case.” The request comes ahead of a scheduling hearing set for today.

Chiesi’s attorney, Alan Kaufman, is expected to argue that it is more fair for a civil trial to proceed than a criminal trial.

Rajaratnam is accused of being at the center of an insider trading ring that netted him more than $49 million, with Chiesi, a consultant to hedge fund firm New Castle Funds, assisting him in obtaining and trading on confidential information. The Galleon case, which has been described as the largest insider-trading case in history, has ensnared more than 20 people so far.

Rajaratnam and Chiesi have pleaded not guilty.