48. (1) Where the insurer is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1913, or under the Indian Companies Act, 1882, or under the Indian Companies Act, 1866, or under any Act repealed thereby, and carries on the business of life insurance, not less than one-third of the directors of the company shall notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Articles of Association of the company be elected in the prescribed manner by the holders of policies of life insurance issued by the company. ¹[(1A) Where in the case of an insurer the number of directors required to be elected under sub-section (1) was, immediately before the commencement of the Insurance (Amendment) Ordinance, 1970, less than one-third of the directors, such insurer shall take such steps as may be necessary for complying with the provisions of sub-section (1) within a period of one year from such commencement; and no proceedings of the directors shall, during that period, be invalid or be questioned merely on the ground of non-compliance with those provisions.] (2) Only and all persons holding otherwise than as assignees policies of life insurance issued by the company of such minimum amount and having been in force for such minimum period as may be prescribed shall unless disqualified under sub-section (2A) be eligible for election as directors under sub-section (1), and only and all persons holding policies of life insurance issued by the company and having been in force at the time of the election for not less than six months shall be eligible to vote at such elections: Provided that the assignment of a policy to the person who took out the policy shall not disqualify that person for being eligible for election as a director under sub-section (1). ²[(2A) A person shall be ineligible for election as a director under sub-section (1) of any company if he is a director, officer, employee, or legal or technical adviser of that company, or of any other insurer, and shall cease to be a director under sub-section (1) if after election he acquires any disqualification specified in this sub-section or no longer holds the qualifications required by sub-section (2): Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall disqualify a person who is an elected director under sub-section (1) and is not otherwise disqualified under this sub-section, from being re-elected.] (3) The Government may, for such period, or to such extent and subject to such conditions as may be specified by it in this behalf, exempt from the operation of this section-(a) any Mutual Insurance Company as defined in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 95, in respect of which the Chief Controller of Insurance certifies that in his opinion owing to the conditions governing membership of the company or to the nature of the insurance contracts undertaken by it the application of the provisions of this sub-section to the company is impracticable, or(b) any company in respect of which the Chief Controller of Insurance certifies that in his opinion the company, having taken all reasonable steps to achieve compliance with the provisions of this section, has been unable to obtain the required number of directors with the required qualifications. (4) This section shall not take effect, in respect of any company in existence at the commencement of this Act, until the expiry of one year therefrom, and in respect of any company incorporated after the commencement of this Act, until the expiry of two years from the date of registration to carry on life insurance business.