The three new criminal codes replace decades-old legislation, and examiners are actively testing whether candidates can map old provisions to their new equivalents — not just recite section numbers in isolation.
When you study, build a comparison table for yourself: old section, new section, and what substantively changed (if anything). Many provisions were simply renumbered, but a meaningful subset saw real changes in procedure, timelines, or punishment — those are the ones examiners favour.
For Mains answer writing, always cite the new section but mention the old one in brackets on first use, since evaluators are used to both. Judgment and application-based questions expect you to apply the new procedural timelines correctly, so practise writing out full procedural sequences (FIR to trial) under the new framework, not just definitions.