Yes, an offer can be revoked. According to Section 5 of the Indian Contract Act 1872, An offer or proposal may be revoked at any time before the communication of its acceptance is complete as against the proposer but not afterwards.
Example :
A proposes, by a letter sent by post, to sell his house to B. B accepts the proposal by a letter sent by post. A may revoke his proposal at any time before or at the moment when B posts his letter of acceptance, but not afterwards.
Revocation how it is made :
According to Section 6 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 revocation of offer may take place under the following ways -
(1) By the communication of notice of revocation by the proposer to the other party;
(2) By the lapse of the time prescribed in such proposal for its acceptance, or, if no time is so prescribed, by the lapse of a reasonable time, without communication of the acceptance;
(3) by the failure of the acceptor to fulfill a condition precedent to acceptance; or
(4) by the death or insanity of the proposer, if the fact of the death or insanity comes to the knowledge of the acceptor before acceptance.
Relevant Case Law :
Rajendra Kumar Varma Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1972
In this case, it has been held that a person who makes an offer is entitled to withdraw his offer or tender before its acceptance intimated to him.The Government by merely providing a clause to the country in the tender notice could not take away the legal rights of a person.
See also
Distinction between Offer and Invitation to Offer
In contract law, revocation can also refer to the termination of an offer. An offeror may revoke an offer before it has been accepted, but the revocation must be communicated to the offeree, although not necessarily by the offeror.(b)
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