why did ghandhiji consider freedom from fear more important than legal justice for the poor peasants of champaran?

For all these years the landlords and british officials had acted like Lords over the peasants. The peasants were afraid of them and they thought that they did not have any rights. They were afraid to approach the courts and acquire legal justice. But for the first time Gandhi showed that the common man had his rights. So Gandhi's main aim was not legal justice , rather he wanted the common man to be acknowledged of his rights.