Kolkata, March 5 -- Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay has stepped down as a judge of the Calcutta High Court.

Gangopadhyay had already conveyed his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu and planned to meet Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam later today for a "courtesy visit".

He arrived at his chamber at the High Court in the morning, after which the resignation letter was sent.

There has been speculation that Gangopadhyay will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Bengal's Tamluk constituency on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket. The Tamluk seat has been a bastion of the ruling Trinamool Congress in recent elections; the party has held it since the 2009 election.

Gangopadhyay, whose rulings on various education-related issues in the state...